The Return
by alittleinsane963
Summary: Long awaited sequel to "An Unusual Case". Gibbs and co. return to Hogwarts, but what on earth for? And WHAT are they going to do about that abominable toad hanging over their shoulder?
1. Letters and Owls

New year, new story! Hello, my lovelies. I've missed you. Here's your promised sequel!

_Previously on NCIS/HP_: JK, LOL. I'm not writing all of _that_ out! Go on and look back at "An Unusual Case".

And here... we... GO!

* * *

><p><strong>Letters and Owls<strong>

"Vance wants you up in his office, Boss," Tony said in way of greeting as Gibbs entered the bull pen with a fresh cup of coffee.

"Did he say what he wanted, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, setting his coffee down to shrug off his coat.

"I tried to get it out of him, but then he just gave me that look that makes me feel like a small, insignificant child." Tony had been spacing out as he spoke, retreating into his imagination, but an unimpressed look from his boss made him clear his throat and come back to reality. "I kind of let it go then."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, then climbed the stairs up to the Director's office.

Ziva looked around quickly to make sure no one was listening or watching before hurrying over to McGee's desk and beginning to speak in a low voice. "Have you heard from Professor Sprout recently, McGee?"

"Now that you mention it, no," McGee said, looking thoughtful. "It's been about three weeks. It's almost the end of semester, though. I'm sure she's pretty busy."

"Did I hear the name of everyone's favorite plant-loving professor?" Tony asked, butting into the conversation. He smirked at Ziva, recalling how she and the Herbology professor had not gotten along terribly well.

"Why do you ask, Ziva?" McGee asked, choosing to ignore Tony.

"I have not heard from Flitwick recently, either, and the last – " she quickly checked over her shoulders, "- owl he sent me was injured."

"And it still made it all the way here? Poor thing!"

"That is not all!" Ziva continued. "Snape hasn't sent Abby anything since mid June."

"Are we surprised by that?" Tony asked with a small chuckle, determined to find his way into the conversation.

"Hooch wouldn't have any last minute things to do before end of semester," McGee reasoned aloud. "You haven't heard from Hooch, have you, Tony?"

"No. She was traveling a lot over the summer and stopped writing," Tony said. "Let's not lie; I don't miss owls hitting my window at three in the morning."

"What do you think is going on?" Ziva asked. "Obviously _something_ has happened that's made them all stop writing!"

"It's been two years since we were there, Ziva," Tony said. "Maybe it's time to just let Hogwarts go."

"That is another thing," Ziva said, pointing a severe finger at Tony. "Abby was supposed to have gone back last year, but Dumbledore sent her a letter himself telling her that she would not be able to."

"Has Gibbs heard from McGonagall?" McGee asked from out of the blue.

"I dunno, Probie. Why don't you check his desk for letters?" Tony suggested.

"Because I'd like to live, DiNozzo," McGee came back with smartly.

"What do you think Director Vance called Gibbs for?" Ziva asked, looking up at the door to the Director's office.

"Probably for something that has to do with Washington D.C. and _not_ the UK," Tony said.

"Something is wrong," Ziva said decidedly before returning to her desk.

* * *

><p>"Read this," Vance demanded of Gibbs, holding out a letter addressed in green ink with a purple wax seal.<p>

Gibbs took the letter and quickly recognized the font in which it was addressed before opening it. The name on the bottom of the page caught his attention before the bulk of the letter: Albus Dumbledore.

Gibbs quickly scanned over the letter, which was addressed to Director Sheppard, before handing it back to Vance. "So?"

Vance held the letter level with his face. "Who the hell's Dumbledore, what's Hogwarts, and why is this addressed to Jenny Sheppard?"

"Dumbledore's the headmaster of Hogwarts, a school in England. We did a bit of work for him a while ago, and he probably doesn't know that Jenny's dead," Gibbs answered as simply as possible.

"Just what aren't you telling me, Gibbs?" Vance asked suspiciously.

"You wouldn't believe me if I did tell you, Leon" Gibbs said with a mischievous glint in his eye and the faintest hint of a smile.

An insistent tapping noise filled the office. Vance looked out his window to see an owl, of all things, rapping sharply on the glass with its beak. "What the hell?"

Gibbs's smile broke free of its restraints as he recognized the owl. "William Wallace," he seemed to say to himself as he strode over to the window.

"Don't let that thing in here!" Vance said harshly as Gibbs made to open the window.

"It won't crap on your desk, Leon," Gibbs said casually, defying orders and opening the window. The owl flew in and perched itself on Gibbs's arm. "Been a long time since I've seen you," he told it.

The owl hooted and shook the snow off its head before presenting its leg to Gibbs, which had a letter tied to it.

Gibbs took the letter, but the owl remained on his arm, looking at him expectantly. "I don't have anything for you!"

The owl glared at Gibbs, then hooted angrily and decided to perch itself on top of Vance's computer screen instead of the agent's arm.

"Be that way, Wallace," Gibbs said with a chuckle. "I don't care."

The owl turned its head resolutely away from Gibbs.

"You'd better have an explanation for that," Vance said as he quickly strode across his office and slammed the window shut, preventing anymore cold winter air from flowing in.

Gibbs read the note the owl had given him before answering Vance. "Meet William Wallace. He's the pet of a teacher at Hogwarts. She says she'll be here in – " Gibbs paused and looked at his watch, "Forty five seconds to meet you."

Vance looked at the bird, then back at Gibbs. "That's someone's pet?"

Gibbs smiled amusedly.

"You know this teacher who claims to be coming here?"

Gibbs nodded.

"You gonna go meet her?" Vance asked, expecting Gibbs to head for the door.

"Nah, she'll find her own way," said Gibbs confidently.

Vance looked at Gibbs with some amount of concern. "Are you alright, Gibbs?"

"I'm fine, Leon," Gibbs said, still a mischievous glint in his eye. "Brace yourself."

"For wh – "

Vance never finished his thought. A crack sounded and a tall woman with black hair pulled into a bun and glasses suddenly appeared square in the center of his office. He automatically whipped his gun out of his desk drawer and pointed at the invader.

"That won't be necessary, sir," the woman said crisply, fixing Vance with a glare he could not disobey. He lowered his weapon.

"Professor McGonagall," Gibbs said. He looked the woman over. She was dressed in slacks and a blouse and would have appeared perfectly normal if Gibbs had not known her usual attire. "It's been a while." He offered his hand.

The woman called McGonagall shook with Gibbs. "I'm sure you'll shortly find out why," she said.

"Director Leon Vance, Professor Minerva McGonagall," Gibbs introduced.

Vance put his gun in his weak hand and shook with McGonagall at Gibbs' encouragement.

"Director?" McGonagall asked sharply. "What happened to – "

"Dead," Gibbs said simply.

"Oh, I'm sorry," McGonagall said sincerely. "You never said any – "

"What have you been sent for?" Gibbs asked, cutting McGonagall off. "I'd like to make this fast. DiNozzo, David, and McGee are currently unsupervised."

"And we all know how disastrous that could be," McGonagall said with the ghost of a smile. She looked at Vance expectantly. "One would usually offer their guest a seat, or at least not point a weapon at them."

Looking rather unhappy, Vance gestured to the seats across his desk, which Gibbs and McGonagall lowered themselves into.

The owl that had perched itself on Vance's computer screen hopped off and settled on the arm of McGonagall's chair. McGonagall gave the creature's head a single stroke before pulling some sort of treat out of her pocket and offering it. The bird took it and, with it in its beak, glared at Gibbs.

"What have you done to upset William Wallace, Gibbs?" McGonagall asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I didn't have any food for him," Gibbs answered smartly.

"Well, that's for the best. You were fattening him up too much."

The owl, who seemed to understand English, looked unhappily at its owner.

"I figured he'd taste better with a bit of meat on him," Gibbs remarked sarcastically.

With food still clutched in its beak, the owl hooted angrily at Gibbs.

Vance cleared his throat loudly. "You dropped, literally, into my office, Professor. If you don't mind, I'd like to know why."

"Not how?" Gibbs asked lowly with a chuckle.

"You've read the letter that Dumbledore sent?" McGonagall asked, acknowledging Gibbs only by twitching her lips upwards ever so slightly.

"I have," Vance confirmed.

"Then you, not being Director Sheppard, undoubtedly have questions."

"That I do. What is Hogwarts?"

"It's a school for witches and wizards," McGonagall said simply.

"Witches?" Vance asked with disbelief.

"Yes," McGonagall said. "You don't know about us already? I thought you would, considering your daughter and all."

"What's my daughter got to do with any of this?" Vance asked aggressively, his teeth gritted somewhat.

"Well, she's a witch, isn't she?"

"What?" Vance very nearly shouted.

"Never mind that," McGonagall said crisply. "I'm sure you'll be informed soon enough as to how your daughter managed to turn your son's teeth purple. Now," she said loudly as Vance made to open his mouth again, "I haven't got very much time. I've already told you what Hogwarts is. Arrangements have been made for Agent Gibbs and his team, along with Dr. Mallard, Mr. Palmer, and Miss Scuito, to return to Hogwarts and assist with instructing a class."

"That offer's expanded and is a year late," Gibbs commented.

"You'll find out why soon enough," McGonagall said shortly. "What do you have to say, Director Vance?"

"I think this is a really weird dream I'm going to wake up from soon," Vance said, rubbing his forehead. "Why should I allow my top team to leave? I don't know anything about Hogwarts, whatever it really is, and I certainly don't think witches and wizards exist."

"Agent Gibbs, am I speaking truth?" McGonagall asked.

"Every word," Gibbs said. "Maybe a demonstration and a copy of the case file will help convince Director Vance."

"Very well," McGonagall agreed. From her sleeve, she produced a long, thin piece of wood, which she waved through the air. A moment later she put it back up her sleeve.

"I'm still waiting," Vance said after a moment with a smug smirk. "Gibbs, I think you need a pshy –"

Vance cut short as a file materialized into his hands.

"While you read that, Director, I think I'll show Professor McGonagall around, if you don't mind," Gibbs said, rising from his chair.

"Get that thing out of here, first," Vance said, looking at the owl, which had begun to doze.

McGonagall picked up her owl, brought it over to the window, which she opened with another flick of her wand, and threw the bird out into the cold, wintery wind.

Gibbs held the door open for McGonagall and gave Vance one last smirk before exiting the office.

Vance rubbed his temples for a moment and tried to process what on earth had just happened before opening the file in front of him.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Up next: Indefinite Leave

Now, I'm still very much struggling with plot, so I will not be updating this story as often as I'd like, for now, at least. Fair warning.

Well, go on! Leave a review, tell me what you think!


	2. Indefinite Leave

**TWO – Indefinite Leave**

"Gibbs," Ziva said as Gibbs came down to the bull pen, an older woman behind him. "We have something we would like to ask you."

"Fire away, Ziva," Gibbs said. His eyes seemed to be laughing, which frightened his team.

"Oh my God!" Tony said suddenly. "Professor McGonagall?" he asked, looking at the woman that had followed Gibbs to the bull pen.

McGonagall flashed a quick smile at Tony. "Agent DiNozzo."

"You look significantly different," McGee said, observing the strange way in which McGonagall was dressed.

"It's nice to see you as well, Agent McGee," McGonagall said smartly.

"I did not even recognize you!" Ziva exclaimed. "What are you doing here, Professor?"

Gibbs pulled the chair over from the spare desk for McGonagall. She refused it. "I was rather hoping we could _all_ go somewhere a bit quieter," she said significantly.

"I think Abby wanted to see us," Gibbs said conversationally. "DiNozzo, David, McGee, let's go!"

Tony, Ziva, and McGee all rose from their seats and got on the elevator with Gibbs and McGonagall.

"Don't tell us someone else got killed," Tony said as the elevator descended.

McGonagall closed her eyes briefly. "I see that the other professors have kept their promises," she said to herself. She continued more loudly as Tony prepared to make a remark, "No one has died that you'll have to take care of."

"What do you mean?" Gibbs asked with a furrowed brow.

"If I'm going to talk, Gibbs, then so are you," McGonagall said with a sniff.

Gibbs shrugged, then got off the elevator and entered Abby's lab first. "Abbs! Got a visitor."

"If it's that guy from tech support, tell him to go to he – Professor McGonagall!" Abby squealed. She rushed at the other woman and hugged her.

"Hello, Miss Scuito," McGonagall said somewhat awkwardly.

Abby let go, a big smile on her face. "I like your robes better."

"I do too," McGonagall agreed with a sigh, "but they would have looked a bit strange here."

"What are you doing here?"

"DiNozzo, go get Ducky and Palmer," Gibbs ordered before McGonagall could reply.

"Getting Ducky and Palmer!" Tony said before rushing out of the room.

"What's going on?" Abby asked nervously. "Did something bad happen?"

The lines on McGonagall's face became more evident. "I can't tell you about anything here."

Tony returned with only Ducky after a bit of small talk.

"Professor McGonagall!" Ducky greeted with a smile. "You look remarkably well."

"Dr. Mallard," McGonagall greeted.

"I'm afraid you'll have to excuse Mr. Palmer. He's taking time off to spend with family and won't be back to work until after the New Year."

"We'll fill Palmer in later, Duck," Gibbs said, brushing the ME's explanation off.

"Alright, down to business," Tony said excitedly, rubbing his hands together. "What's going on?"

"We've made arrangements for all of you to come back to Hogwarts," McGonagall announced with mixed emotions.

Abby squealed loudly. "Finally!"

"I thought Hogwarts would be on winter break by now," Ziva said confusedly.

"In two days," McGonagall said. "It's so chaotic I was able to get away unnoticed by certain persons."

"Why are we going just before break?" Tony asked. "We'd be helping out with one of the classes, wouldn't we? What's the point in going if classes are about to be put on hold for a couple of weeks?"

"Professor Dumbledore wishes that you be informed of all that's occurred in our world since you've left. So much has happened that's too risky to put in letters."

"Is that why you've all stopped writing?" Ziva queried.

"That among other reasons," McGonagall said, her nostrils flaring slightly. "You should know that a great deal has changed at Hogwarts since you left it last. I'm honestly surprised we managed to get permission from the high and almighty Ministry for you all to come at all! We'd understand perfectly if you didn't wish to return."

"What's changed, Professor?" Ducky asked.

"The Ministry's sticking its nose where it shouldn't be," McGonagall hissed. "I wish I could tell you more now. As soon as Director Vance gives permission, I'll begin preparations for you to leave while you pack."

"Whoah, ho!" Tony said loudly. "We're leaving today?"

"The sooner the better," McGonagall said. "Poor Professors Sprout and Flitwick can only hide the fact that I've left for so long. They both send their apologies and greetings," she told McGee and Ziva.

"I have a date tomorrow," Tony said quietly.

Ziva laughed. "You might want to call and tell her that you will have to reschedule."

"We're going back!" Abby said excitedly. She, McGee, Tony, and Ziva unconsciously formed a circle and began chattering away.

"Why do Pomona and Filius have to cover the fact that you've left, Professor?" Ducky asked lowly.

"I've told you things have changed at Hogwarts, Dr. Mallard," McGonagall said.

"Ducky, please," Ducky corrected.

"Ducky," McGonagall said the nick name she had never gotten the hang of. "As I said, the Ministry has wheedled their way into Hogwarts, and I technically do not have their permission to leave the school, much less the country," she said with disdain.

"Permission?" Gibbs asked interestedly.

"Permission," McGonagall snorted.

"What the hell's Fudge done since you last wrote?"

"Don't get me started on _that_," McGonagall snapped.

Vance suddenly entered the lab. "I thought I might find you all down here," he said.

The team waited for Vance's verdict with baited breath; Abby had her fingers crossed and her eyes tightly shut.

"I just got off the phone with SecNav. It seems he knows about Hogwarts, too," Vance continued. "On the condition that you call and update regularly and allow me to physically check in, you've been granted indefinite leave."

Abby shouted joyously. "We're going back! We're going back! We're going back to witches, and wizards, and magical beasts!"

"Goblins and ghosts and magical feasts," Ziva said, smiling.

"Feasts!" Tony said excitedly. "Those house elves make a damn good chicken!"

"Professor McGonagall, would you mind coming back to my office with me while these people go pack their bags?" Vance requested. He seemed to be blocking out everyone else, and with great effort.

"Certainly," McGonagall said.

"How are we getting back?" Abby asked excitedly. "Floo powder?" She gasped loudly. "Are Tonks and Moody getting us in the plane again?"

"No, but you'll see them before you get to Hogwarts, I assure you," McGonagall promised. The team caught one last glance of her in her Muggle clothes before the doors to the lab shut behind her and Vance.

"We get to go back!" Abby said again happily. "We don't even have to catch anyone this time! This is going to be so much cooler! I wonder if Snape will actually let me make a potion. I bet I could. Most of them don't require any wand work. I – "

"Abby!" Gibbs called, grabbing the Goth's shoulders. "Go home and pack."

"Right!" Abby said. She grabbed her keys and dashed out of the door. Tony, Ziva, and McGee followed her out, though they were not quite as energetic.

"What are you thinking, Jethro?" Ducky asked concernedly.

"I think that McGonagall's worried about us going back," Gibbs said thoughtfully, beginning to pace the length of the lab.

"I'd imagine the events that took place previously at Hogwarts make you feel uneasy, as well."

"It's gotta be something big, Ducky," Gibbs reasoned. "You know her. She's not easy to scare, so why's she sneaking around and having Flitwick and Sprout cover for her?"

"I suppose we'll find out," Ducky said.

"Something's not right here, Duck," Gibbs said. "I don't like it."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Next chapter: Out of the Frying Pan...

I know. I suck at updating. I'm sorry! I haven't had time to sit down and write since the year started! -anger- Next chapter's long - REALLY freaking long! - so just hold tight!

I'll eat a cookie in every reviewer's honor.


	3. Out of the Frying Pan

**THREE – Out of the Frying Pan…**

Gibbs was the first to return to NCIS. He came across McGonagall at the entrance to the parking garage.

"Professor," he greeted. She nodded at him. "So how are we getting to Hogwarts?"

"You're not going straight to Hogwarts," McGonagall told Gibbs.

Gibbs looked sharply at McGonagall. "Really? Where are you taking us?" he asked with an accusatory tone.

"I'd rather only explain it once, if you don't mind waiting for – "

"I need to know what you're bringing my team into," Gibbs said sternly.

McGonagall's beady eyes scanned the garage. She seemed displeased with the number of people coming in and out of it and began climbing the concrete stairs leading up. Gibbs followed her to the top, open level of the garage where next to no cars were parked. He squint his eyes as cold winter air whipped across his face.

"Do you remember the story of the dark wizard Harry Potter managed to make go away when he was a baby?" McGonagall asked. She seemed unphased by the cold weather. Gibbs supposed she'd used some spell or another so as to remain unbothered by it because she was lacking a coat.

Gibbs nodded. "Killed Potter's parents but couldn't kill him. Disappeared, right? I thought he was dead."

McGonagall shook her head. "When Pettigrew slithered away, he found You-Know-Who and brought him back to health. Jethro, he's _back_."

Gibbs looked skyward for a moment, wondering just how ludicrous the magical world could get. "Why are you bringing my team into this?"

"Because the Muggle world's defenseless! We can't touch any of the officials in England, Scotland, or Ireland. They don't know, and we can't protect them."

"That's the Ministry's job!" Gibbs argued.

"The Ministry doesn't believe You-Know-Who is back!" McGonagall snarled. "Fudge wants nothing to do with it!" She paused and took a moment to breathe.

"What makes you think we want anything to do with it, or even believe it?"

"You've got to believe it!" McGonagall said in an uncharacteristically desperate tone. She sighed. "You-Know-Who killed Cedric Diggory last year, and very nearly killed Potter as well."

Gibbs felt his muscles freeze and knew it had nothing to do with the snow in which he stood. "Diggory's dead?"

McGonagall nodded. "And Potter saw _him_, fought him, face to face. That child would not lie about something like this. History's already beginning to repeat itself, Jethro. Signs are starting to appear that show that You-Know-Who's back. They're small and can be over looked, but they're there."

"I can't lead my team into this," Gibbs said, shaking his head. "I can't put them in that kind of danger; I know what that wizard did to Muggles before. You need Muggle officials, I'll set you up for a meeting with SecNav, and he'll get you to the SecDef, and from there - "

"If you don't believe what I'm telling you, they won't either."

"If I didn't believe you I'd agree to go!"

"You won't be exposed to You-Know-Who! You'll be kept where he can't reach you."

"An hour ago you were saying you'd understand if we didn't want to go," Gibbs pointed out. "Why so insistent now?"

"Kingsley Shacklebolt just informed me, shortly before your arrival back here, that Fudge met with the Muggle Prime Minister and again told him that everything is well in our world. Don't you see? You reentering our world is our best chance of getting to the Muggles," McGonagall said. "When Director Vance visits, the Prime Minister will want to meet with him, and _that_ is the golden opportunity."

Gibbs sighed heavily. "Can you absolutely guarantee my team's safety?"

"As long as you stay where you're told, yes," McGonagall said. "You-Know-Who doesn't intend to make his presence undeniably known until he has what he feels is adequate support. You'll hopefully be gone before that happens."

Gibbs thought for a moment. "Alright," he conceded. "But first sign of trouble and you get us the hell out."

"Agreed," McGonagall said. She and Gibbs shook on the deal. "You might want to tell your team to meet up here."

Gibbs made his calls, then leaned against the barrier protecting cars or people from going over the edge of the garage. "So what about Palmer?"

"What about him?" McGonagall asked, looking out across the city.

"How's he getting to Hogwarts?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know," McGonagall admitted. "It may be he doesn't come at all. I'll have to discuss it with Dumbledore when I get back."

"How's he doing?"

McGonagall gave a half-scoff. "He won't admit it, but he's more stressed and worried than he's been since You-Know-Who's first rising, and the Ministry's doing nothing to help that. However, all things considered, he's remarkably well." She turned her head to look at Gibbs contemplatively. "I have to ask, Jethro. What happened to Director Sheppard?"

Gibbs sighed heavily. "Officially, she died in a house fire."

"Unofficially?" McGonagall prodded on.

Gibbs looked all around, then said lowly. "Shootout with some old Russian friends of ours."

McGonagall allowed a moment of silence in respect for Jenny before asking, "And how much time did you wind up in the hospital after that one?"

"None. I wasn't there," Gibbs said.

McGonagall felt she had asked enough and fell quiet.

"As long as you're filling Dumbledore in about Jenny," Gibbs said after a few minutes, "you might want to tell him Ziva's now Agent David."

"She's left Mossad?" McGonagall asked. "You never mentioned that, either!"

"You never mentioned Diggory or the rising of a dark wizard from the grave," Gibbs said sharply.

Irritable silence settled until McGee arrived. Within fifteen minutes of his appearance the rest of the party was present.

"So what's the plan, Professor?" Tony asked through chattering teeth as he rubbed his ungloved hands together. He suddenly looked horrified. "We're not taking brooms all the way there, are we?"

"Heavens no, Agent DiNozzo!" McGonagall said. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Well what are we waiting for?"

As an answer to Tony's question, several people appeared with loud cracks. Gibbs looked around quickly. He recognized Tonks, Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, Snape, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Watcher!" Tonks greeted enthusiastically. "Long time, no see!"

"Dolores is looking for you, Minerva," Snape dully announced.

McGonagall sniffed, but gave no other response.

Lupin went quickly through his pockets and soon pulled out a piece of paper that he handed to Ducky. "Read and memorize," he told the Muggles before him.

"What's the Ord – " Tony began as soon as he got the paper from Ducky.

"Hush!" Mrs. Weasley said quickly. "Not here!"

Tony looked at the woman uncertainly as he handed the paper off to Ziva.

Gibbs received the paper last, quickly read the address on it, and handed it back to Lupin, who pulled his wand out and burned the note.

"Are these all your things?" Kingsley asked before NCIS could voice any questions of their own.

"Yup!" Abby said brightly.

Kingsley waved his wand at the bags and they shrunk to such a size he was able to pick them all up with one hand and put them in his pocket.

"This is everyone?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yeah," Gibbs said.

"Then we ought to get going!" Tonks suggested. "Abby, come here! Grab my arm." Abby did as Tonks requested. "Hold on tight, don't you dare let go!" Tonks turned quickly on the spot and disappeared with Abby.

"No way!" Tony said with a wide smile. "That was awesome!"

"You can go next then, DiNozzo," Lupin said, offering his arm. Tony gripped on and disappeared in the same fashion as Abby and Tonks.

Ducky vanished with Mrs. Weasley, Ziva with McGonagall, and McGee had the misfortune of being paired with Snape. Gibbs was left on the rooftop with Kingsley.

"Ready, Agent Gibbs?" Kingsley said in his deep, slow voice.

Gibbs sighed unhappily before grabbing Kingsley's arm with a firm grip. All of a sudden, he felt as if someone had put him in a small box and was attempting to squish him. Enormous force pressed on from every side and scenery whirled around at light speed.

As suddenly as the experience had started, it ended. Gibbs' knees buckled as his feet harshly collided with asphalt.

"Stay here, do not move," Kinglsey said, then turned and vanished alone.

Gibbs took a moment to absorb his surroundings. He stood in the middle of a disgusting, smelly, and empty alley. From around the corner he heard two people arguing in thick, unmistakable Boston accents. Quickly deducing the two were discussing a kidnapping of some sort, Gibbs ignored Kingsley's directions and had began to walk toward the criminals when Mrs. Weasley appeared in front of him out of thin air.

"Hello, dear," Mrs. Weasley said warmly and with a smile. "It's best we – "

"Just one second, Mrs. Weasley," Gibbs said, and walked around her.

"There's no time for that, Agent Gibbs!" Mrs. Weasley said in an uncharacteristically harsh voice. Gibbs felt hands close on his arm and then saw hundreds of sights flash before his eyes in seconds.

"That was – " Gibbs angrily began, but was cut off by Mrs. Weasley smoothing the sleeve of his jacket.

"We're on a very tight schedule, Agent Gibbs." She caught sight of her watch, gave a slight start, and vanished.

"Agent Gibbs?" said a man.

Gibbs wheeled around and drew his gun at the same time. "Captain McDonald!" he said as he recognized the face, then holstered his weapon. "Where are we?"

"About a sixth of the way across the Atlantic," McDonald answered. "I never had the opportunity to tell – "

Gibbs never got to hear Captain McDonald's thoughts as Lupin appeared, grabbed his arm, and pulled him away.

"Running behind!" was all Lupin said before leaving Gibbs in what looked very much like the cargo hold of a ship.

Gibbs barely heard Irish accents before Snape came and then dropped him off in another cargo hold. Tonks took him next, and then McGonagall.

Gibbs's feet finally hit solid ground and he turned to McGonagall with rage evident on his face. "What the hell is this, Minerva?"

"Keep your voice down, Jethro!" McGonagall hissed. She gestured at the dark windows above them. "It's late. You'll wake the Muggles!"

"I don't care if I wake every last person on this street – "

"Yes you do. You don't want to raise a scene. Come on!"

"Where's my team?" Gibbs snapped quietly as he followed McGonagall out of the ally they had landed in and onto the main street, which was devoid of any functioning street lights.

"They're coming. We had to arrive at different points for added safety," McGonagall answered shortly.

Gibbs huffed, but could not argue anything that meant more safety for his colleagues. "Where are we?" he asked instead of making another unwarranted remark.

"London," McGonagall said simply.

The address that had been on the paper Lupin passed around popped into Gibbs' mind. "What's the Or – "

"You heard Molly. Not here."

"Then whe – "

"Heaven's sake, Jethro! All this time I've been thinking you're intelligent!" McGonagall snapped. "_Not here!_"

Seething with fury, Gibbs shut his mouth and looked ahead, thinking of all the things he would start to shout at McGonagall once they reached their destination.

As Gibbs and McGonagall turned onto a street labeled Grimmauld Place, other pairs of people began to come out of the shadows. Abby walked with Snape, McGee with Kingsley. Tony appeared with Mrs. Weasley. Ducky came out from between two houses with Lupin as Ziva and Tonks popped off a bench to join the group headed toward Number Eleven.

"Where's Twelve?" Tony asked, looking between Eleven and Thirteen.

"Think of that address I gave you," Lupin suggested.

As Gibbs thought of the thin, slanted writing, a house bubbled up between Eleven and Thirteen, pushing the two out of its way and claiming its own space.

"That's not normal," Tony said, pointing at number twelve.

"The wonders of magic, DiNozzo!" Tonks said with a chuckle.

"Do be quiet as you come in," Mrs. Weasley requested. "It'd be rather unpleasant if you woke anything up."

NCIS followed the witches and wizards as quietly as possible into the house and to a grubby looking basement kitchen. Gibbs noticed that Tony seemed rather unimpressed.

"Ten o'clock already!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, looking at her watch. She frowned unhappily. "I suppose Arthur's taken another shift?" she asked Kingsley.

"I believe so," Kingsley answered.

"I don't see why he keeps agreeing to trade shifts. He's been so exhausted!" Mrs. Weasley sighed and suddenly looked quite a bit older. "Are you hungry, agents?" she asked, fixing a smile onto her face. "I'll make you something to eat!"

"I wouldn't refuse a meal made by you, Mrs. Weasley!" Tony said enthusiastically, causing some amount of actual happiness to enter the woman's smile.

"We ought to be going back, Severus," McGonagall said. Snape nodded and the two left without another word.

"Where are we?" Gibbs demanded of Lupin.

"Sit, I'll explain," Lupin offered.

"I'm so glad you were able to come today," Mrs. Weasley began to chatter. "You'll be able to get settled in before the children come home for break and before everyone starts coming in and out of here constantly!"

"Is this your home, Mrs. Weasley?" McGee asked politely.

Mrs. Weasley smiled sadly. "No, Agent McGee. I've hardly been home in the past six months." She began to bustle around, digging in various cabinets and through the pantry.

"What can I do to help, Mrs. Weasley?" Ziva asked, jumping up from where she had sat down.

"Don't be ridiculous, dear! Sit down," Mrs. Weasley chided.

"Mrs. Weasley, please," Ziva said. "I would like to help."

"If you insist," Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Go ahead and start peeling those potatoes, if you don't mind."

"I'll help Ziva," Abby said brightly.

Gibbs looked at Lupin expectantly.

"As the address said, you're at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," Lupin said.

"What the hell's the Order of the Phoenix?" Tony asked.

Lupin began with the back story with Gibbs hanging on his every word, determined to know everything that he could.

Over at the counters, Mrs. Weasley kept the attention of Ziva and Abby; she seemed to not want to hear Lupin's explanation. "So, how have you been?"

"We have been well," Ziva responded. "Work has kept us busy."

"Good, good," Mrs. Weasley said as she waved her wand at a pot, causing it to begin washing itself.

Ziva examined the bags under Mrs. Weasley's eyes and only then noticed that the woman looked as if she had lost a significant amount of weight. The Israeli kept her head facing downward toward the potatoes she was peeling, but her eyes kept glancing at the exhausted witch.

"What grade is everyone in now?" Ziva asked, thinking talking about the children might cheer Mrs. Weasley up somewhat.

Mrs. Weasley smiled slightly, but her face returned to its previous fallen state with a sigh. "Fred and George are in their last year. Ron, Harry, and Hermione are in their fifth year. Ginny's in her fourth."

"What are Fred and George doing when they graduate?" Abby asked, seeming to have caught on to Ziva's train of thought.

"I haven't the foggiest," Mrs. Weasley said with a bit of bite. "They haven't got good enough grades to – " She stopped herself and sighed again. "I'm not sure."

"Isn't there some test Ron will be taking this year?" Ziva asked.

"OWLs," Mrs. Weasley easily responded. "He'll do well. Hermione will make sure he studies."

"I do not doubt it," Ziva said. "Miss Granger still sticks to her books, then?"

"Oh, yes," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I hope the three of them have not been getting into trouble?" Ziva said with a mischievous smile.

Mrs. Weasley frowned deeply. Ziva knew she had asked the wrong question and did not dare dig deeper. Mrs. Weasley, however, suddenly turned her frown upside down.

"If by trouble, you mean Ron and Hermione being made Prefects, then they've been getting into plenty!" Mrs. Weasley said, pride in her son swelling.

"Prefect?" Abby said with a great smile. "That's great!"

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Ron's made the Quidditch team, too."

"What position?" Ziva asked.

"Keeper," Mrs. Weasley readily answered.

"Do Fred and George and Harry still play?" Abby asked.

Mrs. Weasley's balloon full of pride burst and she furrowed her brow. "No."

"Why?" Abby asked before she thought of any possible consequences.

"I'd rather not discuss it, Miss Scuito," Mrs. Weasley said somewhat coldly. "It's an utterly ridiculous situation that – I'd rather not discuss it."

"What about Percy?" Ziva asked, hoping that Percy's zeal for success had made his mother proud.

Mrs. Weasley looked ready to cry in an instant and Ziva sincerely regretted her question. "Percy opted to quit the family," Mrs. Weasley said shortly, fixing her features to look as normal as she could manage. All her effort went to waste; she still looked horribly unlike herself. "Oh, don't feel bad," she said, forcing a smile onto her face after observing Ziva's guilty features. "You've been gone two years! How could you expect to be up to date on the news?

"Remus, be a dear and see if Sirius wants anything to eat," Mrs. Weasley requested of Lupin, who had since finished giving Gibbs and company the bulk of information he saw fit. Lupin hardly hesitated before getting up and disappearing.

"Sirius?" Ziva asked interestedly. "Sirius Black? He is here?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded.

Ziva smiled widely. "I never got to thank him! He has been cleared, then?"

"No," Mrs. Weasley said quickly, "and I wouldn't recommend saying anything about it in front of him."

"Boss, how'd we get dragged into this?" Tony asked quietly as conversation continued in the back ground.

"They need Muggle allies," Gibbs answered blandly.

"They couldn't find those here? I don't think this is something we should get involved with."

"I think we're already involved, whether we like it or not," McGee added his thoughts.

"Sirius!" Ziva exclaimed, looking past her colleagues toward the door. She observed the tall man with long black hair entering the kitchen and smiled. "You look much better than the last time I saw you."

"Same to you, Officer David," said wanted criminal Sirius Black as he returned Ziva's smile.

"_Agent_ David now," Ziva said as she and Sirius shook hands.

"Jumped on the band wagon, did you?" Sirius asked with a laugh. "Very well, _Agent _David. I'm very pleased to be your host until you go off to Hogwarts," he said pleasantly.

"Sirius, these are my colleagues," Ziva said, beginning introductions. She got around to Gibbs last.

Gibbs held his handshake with Sirius longer than was considered normal. "I never got to thank you."

"For what, Agent Gibbs?" Sirius asked with a laugh.

"For getting Ziva back to us," Gibbs said earnestly.

Sirius waved off Gibbs' thanks. "It was nothing," he said.

"So this is your house?" Abby asked pleasantly as she began to set places at the table.

"As much as I'd like to deny it, yes," Sirius said as he took a seat next to Lupin.

"Deny it? Why would you do that? I think it's pretty cool," Abby said.

Mrs. Weasley put a halt to any response Sirius might have given by placing an enormous plate piled with cold turkey sandwiches in the middle of the table. "I'm sorry, it's not exactly a gourmet meal, but it's nearly all that we have at the moment. I've been meaning to go shopping."

"Don't worry yourself over it, Mrs. Weasley!" Ducky said warmly. "I, for one, do not have any objection to a good turkey sandwich."

Mrs. Weasley smiled briefly. "I'll have some potatoes ready in just a moment."

"There's no rush, Mrs. Weasley," Tony said just before taking a large bite of a sandwich.

"I trust Remus has filled you in on what's going on here?" Sirius asked Gibbs.

Gibbs nodded as he chewed.

"And you're not asking questions furiously?" Sirius asked amusedly. "Molly's kids have been in on this since the beginning and they _still_ ask questions. You just walked in!"

Mrs. Weasley glared at Sirius for the briefest of moments before continuing her work.

Gibbs shrugged. "Why ask all the questions now? We've got time before we leave."

Sirius copied Gibbs' action, raising and lowering his shoulders.

"Stop looking at the clock, Molly, it's only going to make time seem slower," Lupin told Mrs. Weasley as she anxiously checked the clock once more.

"What shift did Mr. Weasley take?" McGee asked. "I thought he worked a 9 to 5 sort of job."

"He does," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Missed that detail out, eh, Remus?" Sirius said jovially. He looked at the Muggles before him. "Arthur's on guard duty."

"Guarding what?" Tony asked interestedly.

"Now you've got questions!" Sirius said with a smile. "Arthur's guarding what the Order thinks Voldemort is after."

Gibbs appreciated Sirius actually calling Voldemort by his name.

"Which is?" Tony said expectantly.

Sirius looked over at Mrs. Weasley as if expecting her to object.

"Dumbledore said they ought to be informed," Mrs. Weasley said haughtily, "and they're perfectly capable of deciding for themselves whether or not they want to know."

"So are Fred and George, and Harry _ought_ to know!" Sirius pointed out.

"I've got enough of my family involved in this mess, Sirius!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. "You leave Fred and George alone! And you know why we haven't told Harry!"

Perhaps owed to the fact that Mrs. Weasley was pointing a wooden spoon at him with a rather dangerous look on her face, Sirius decided to return his attention to Tony's question.

"Do you know what caused Voldemort to first target the Potters?" Sirius asked.

"A prophecy," Ziva answered automatically.

Sirius kicked his chair back onto two legs and looked at Ziva oddly. "How'd you know that?"

Ziva smiled. "I think you would prefer not to know."

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but McGee stopped him. "Trust me, when she says you don't want to know, you don't want to know."

Sirius shrugged and continued. "Right, it was a prophecy, but Voldemort only heard part of it, and that's what was the downfall of him."

"So that's what he wants now," Tony speculated, "to hear the rest of the prophecy?"

Sirius nodded. "And if he does, the results would be disastrous."

"I don't understand," Ducky said. "How does one guard a prophecy, especially if it was made so long ago? Is Mr. Weasley guarding whoever made the prophecy?"

"No. Only Dumbledore knows who made the prophecy," Sirius said. "Mr. Weasley is guarding the single record of the full prophecy that Voldemort would be able to get his hands on."

"Where's that?" Tony asked.

Lupin quickly interjected before Sirius could make a reply. "I think you're better off not knowing," said he. "The more you know, the more at risk you are, and you know plenty already."

Mrs. Weasley put a large dish of mashed potatoes on the table, none too quietly.

"What's going on at Hogwarts this year?" Gibbs asked rather casually. "McGonagall said the Ministry was putting its nose where it shouldn't be."

"Did she now?" Sirius said. "Good old Minnie! Trying to give you warning, I suppose?"

"The Ministry put one of their own into Hogwarts," Lupin said. "Dolores Umbridge. She teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"What's the big deal?" Tony asked. "The government always gets involved in anything it can anywhere in the world."

"The big deal, Agent DiNozzo, is that Umbridge was not put at the school for the sole purpose of teaching," Lupin said with a scary sort of ferocity in his voice. "Ever since Harry came out with the news that Voldemort returned, the Ministry's been trying to tear him apart, and Dumbledore too, for supporting the story. The Ministry seems to think Dumbledore's gone senile."

"What?" McGee asked with an amused smile. "Come on, that's ridiculous! I hardly know the guy and – "

"Yes, it is ridiculous, Agent McGee," Lupin said, "but that doesn't matter. Fudge has gotten it into his head that Dumbledore wants to overthrow him as Minister, and he put Umbridge in place to try to prevent it."

"You cannot be serious!" Ziva said with a laugh. "If Dumbledore wanted to overthrow Fudge, he would have easily done it a long time ago!"

"I know that, and you know that, but that doesn't matter to Fudge. He's delusional."

"So what exactly is Umbridge doing?" Tony asked.

Lupin pulled out his wand and gave it a wave. Several newspaper clippings followed by a scroll of parchment flew into the room and landed neatly on the table in front of the agents. "Those are updates on the _improvements_ she's made. The scroll's the rules she's put into place at Hogwarts."

"She can make rules?" Ziva asked, taking the scroll and opening it.

"Unfortunately," Sirius growled.

"Then she has power over Dumbledore," Ducky reasoned.

"Yes, she does," Lupin confirmed. "That's what makes her so dangerous."

"Message for Sirius Black," a faint voice drawled from somewhere upstairs.

Sirius heaved himself out of his seat and ascended the stairs.

"She's banned student organizations?" Ziva asked as she looked at the list, her brow furrowed.

"One of the ways Fudge thinks Dumbledore might strike is with an army of his students," Lupin said drily.

Ziva burst out laughing. Abby chuckled along with her.

Sirius thundered his way back downstairs and into the kitchen. "Molly, go home," he said, out of breath.

"What?" Mrs. Weasley asked confusedly.

"Go back to the Burrow!" Sirius snapped.

"Why?"

"You'll find out soon, just go!"

"Has something happened?"

"GET OUT OF HERE, MOLLY!" Sirius bellowed. His exclamation woke something in his house. A piercing, blood curdling scream began to sound.

Mrs. Weasley flew into a flurry, knowing something was very wrong. She grabbed her travelling cloak, threw it on, and disappeared out the front door.

"Sirius, what's going on?" Lupin asked over the long, continuous shriek.

"Arthur's been attacked!" Sirius said loudly.

"WHAT?" Lupin shouted.

"Go back to the community and see if anyone's saying anything about it!"

Lupin bounded out the door.

Sirius finally took notice of the fact that his eardrums were aching. He tapped Tony's shoulder and had the agent follow him down a hallway to where a set of red curtains looked as if they were being blown by strong wind to reveal a painting of a rather ugly woman who was clearly the source of the ear shattering noise.

"Shut _up_, you!" Sirius told the woman as he grabbed one of the curtains. Tony grabbed the other and the two men fought furiously with the fabric until they finally managed to close the curtains. The screaming stopped and ringing silence began.

"What the hell was that?" Tony asked as he rubbed his ear.

Gibbs walked purposefully toward Sirius. "Where'd Lupin go? And what's happened to Mr. Weasley?"

"Remus went back to a werewolf community – they were allied with Voldemort in the past, - and I don't know about Arthur," Sirius said. "I was only told that he was seriously injured."

"He's hurt because he was on guard duty?"

"He knew the risks involved in the job," Sirius said. "The Weasley kids and Harry are going to be here soon."

"We should leave them alone," Abby suggested. "The fewer people around them, the better."

"Agreed," Ziva said with a nod.

"You all have the three rooms at the top of the stairs," Sirius said. "Your bags are up there already."

The NCIS crew began climbing stairs. As they reached the final landing, they heard the murmur of voices begin in the kitchen.

"I guess they're here already," McGee thought aloud.

"Three rooms," Ziva said, pointing at the doors available. "Abby and I will take this one." She and Abby quickly disappeared.

"What do you think, Boss?" Tony asked, pointing down through the landing where, somewhere below, Sirius was attending to the Weasley children.

Gibbs sighed. "Get some sleep, DiNozzo."

"Sleep, Boss? It's only six o'clock back at home."

Gibbs decided not to respond and he and Ducky entered what would be their room until returning to Hogwarts.

"What's got you so concerned, Jethro?" Ducky asked as he opened his suitcase to begin settling in.

"If this Voldemort character finds out we're here, Ducky, - " Gibbs cut himself short with a sigh and looked blankly at the wall.

"Yes, all those things he did to Muggles who, unlike us, knew nothing during his first rising," Ducky said. "It's perfectly understandable that you're concerned, but I think we ought to put our faith in Hogwarts and in the Order of the Phoenix."

"I don't like it," Gibbs said.

"Might I suggest that instead of brooding you try to find ways to ensure our protection and safety?" Ducky said as he began to examine a bookshelf. He plucked a book off the shelf and sat down on his bed, which coughed up a significant amount of dust, to read.

Gibbs sighed. Unbelievably frustrated and with nothing to do, he pulled out his gun and began to clean it thoroughly.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Next chapter - Reunited with Red Heads (subject to change)

One of these days I'll get on top of this story. ...and by one of these days I mean when school's out. :P

I would rather have a review than a bar of chocolate. -hint hint-


	4. Reunited with Red Heads

**Reunited with Red Heads**

Gibbs woke up at nine the following morning after only managing to get to sleep at three. Determined not to let jet lag completely dominate sleep schedules, he awoke Ducky before exiting the room and kicking the door to Tony and McGee's room.

"McGoo, you get it," Tony said very drowsily.

"No way in hell," McGee muttered. "You've kept me up all night with your snoring. You get it."

"Get up!" Gibbs barked and kicked the door again.

"Up, Boss!" Tony and McGee said in unison. Feet hit the ground.

Satisfied, Gibbs moved on to Ziva and Abby's room, though he was polite enough to knock as opposed to kicking. After a moment's wait, Ziva opened the door and stood with her eyes still closed. "Someone had better be dead," she said, leaning on the door frame for support.

"Can't you let us sleep in, Gibbs?" Abby whined into her pillow somewhere in the depths of the dark room behind Ziva.

"I already did," Gibbs said without sympathy. "Get a move on."

Ziva groaned before she shut the door.

Gibbs dressed himself, threw on his shoes, checked to make sure no one had gone back to bed, and started the long journey down the multitude of stairs. No one was present in the kitchen. He checked the nearby rooms before figuring the witches and wizards had likely been up far longer than he and were still sleeping. He returned to the kitchen and opened a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ that had been left out on the table.

"Up already, Agent Gibbs?" said Mrs. Weasley, entering the kitchen.

"It's almost ten, Mrs. Weasley," Gibbs said.

"What time does that make it back at home for you?" she asked.

Gibbs ignored Mrs. Weasley's question and asked his own. "How's Mr. Weasely?"

Mrs. Weasley smiled. "He's going to be alright," she said. "Bill, my oldest, is staying with him now. I'm taking the kids to see him once they're all up. Moody and Tonks will be by, as well."

"I'm glad to hear he's alright," Gibbs said with a nod.

"I am, too. After Sirius sent me home I thought – Well, never mind that," Mrs. Weasley said. "Arthur's fine now."

"What happened?"

"He was bitten by a giant snake," Mrs. Weasley explained quite conversationally.

"That doesn't sound pleasant," Tony remarked as he made an appearance in jeans and a t-shirt. At a look from his boss he said quickly, "We're not working today!" After a moment he asked uncertainly, "Are we?"

"Not that I'm aware of, DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

"Good morning, everyone!" Abby said cheerfully. "Mrs. Weasley! You don't have to make breakfast! You've got to be so tired! Ziva, Tony, and I can do it!"

"No, dear, it's no trouble," Mrs. Weasley kindly argued.

Ziva stood suddenly in the doorway. She shuddered slightly. "I never want to see McGee barefooted again." She sat herself at the table next to Tony.

"Where's Ducky?" Gibbs asked.

"Last I saw he was looking for his glasses cleaner," Tony replied. "It looked like it'd take him a while."

Ziva looked over at Mrs. Weasley just as the woman began to spell toast to butter itself. "I will do that for you, Mrs. Weasley!"

Mrs. Weasley resigned herself to the fact that she was going to receive help with making meals and left the toast to Ziva.

"Gibbs! You make good sausage," Abby said. "Come over here and cook these."

Gradually, Abby succeeded in pushing Mrs. Weasley away from the counters and making the woman sit at the table and simply relax. When Ducky came downstairs he kept the exhausted woman engaged in conversation, which she seemed to appreciate.

"Fried or scrambled eggs?" Tony asked, spatula in hand.

"Scrambled," McGee said decisively. "Those are easier to make in bulk."

Gibbs finished a plateful of sausage and set it down on the table. He lingered a moment to figure out what Ducky and Mrs. Weasley were talking about.

"Charlie's a dragon fighter?" Ducky said with wide eyes and a great smile. "That's quite impressive."

"I don't think fighter is the right term," Mrs. Weasley said. "Trainer might be more appropriate."

"Morning, Mum," said a familiar red headed twin groggily as he and his other half made their way into the kitchen.

"Morning, Agent Gibbs," said the other twin.

Both twins stopped and their eyes snapped completely open. They looked around the kitchen and noticed the rest of the NCIS team.

"No way," said Fred in awe.

"Are we dreaming, Fred?" asked George.

"I don't think so, George," said Fred.

"I was hoping you'd say that!"

"Ron!" Fred shouted, thundering back up the stairs with his brother.

"Ginny!" George called.

"Harry!"

"You won't believe who's here!"

"I'm sorry," Mrs. Weasley apologized quickly, despite the fact that the whole of NCIS was smiling, if not laughing.

"Where is Hermione?" Ziva asked, having taken notice the twins had not called her.

"She's going skiing with her parents this Christmas," Mrs. Weasley replied. "Break hasn't officially started yet, either. The rest of the students travel back tomorrow."

"Fred! George! Would you _stop_ Apparating into my room?" Ginny's raging was easily heard in the kitchen. "I could have been changing, for crying out loud!" There was quiet for a moment while Fred or George made a response. "I don't care if my trunk's still at Hogwarts, you dolts! You think I slept in my _robes_?"

Mrs. Weasley put her forehead into her hand and shook her head.

"Hmm, the twins sound like someone else I know," Ziva said, glancing at Tony.

"I wouldn't dream of popping into your room unannounced, Ziva," Tony said. "I'd run the high risk of getting stabbed, and I prefer having my blood inside me, thank you very much."

"Mum, would you make them shut up?" Ginny asked as she descended the stairs. "They're telling me that the Muggles – " she stopped short as she entered the kitchen, " - are here."

"Good morning, Miss Weasley," Gibbs greeted with an amused smile.

Ginny looked flustered for a moment, then seemed to make up her mind to appear calm and collected. "Good morning. When did you lot get here?"

"Last night," Ziva answered.

"We didn't see – "

"We stayed upstairs," Abby explained. "Want some toast?"

Ron and Harry tumbled into the kitchen next. Fred and George ran so quickly after them they nearly bowled their brother and his friend over in the doorway.

"You weren't joking!" Ron said to his brothers.

"Us, joke?" Fred asked in mock offence.

"Really, Ron, would we ever do that?" George queried.

Mrs. Weasley rose from her seat. "Come on now, you lot. Eat up!"

"When are we going to go see Dad, Mum?" Ginny asked.

"Once your things, Moody, and Tonks get here," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Second breakfast, here we go!" Fred said excitedly as he stuck a fork into the plate of sausage at the table.

"Second?" McGee asked. "It's only ten thirty!"

"Yeah, we ate at five when Mum got back from St. Mungo's," Ron said as he wolfed down a piece of toast. "Won't say no to good food, though. Oi! George, toss me a sausage!"

George threw a sausage at Ron, nailing him in the face. Ron looked sourly at his older brother as he wiped the grease off his cheek.

"When are our trunks arriving, Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked.

"As soon as Professor McGonagall gets a chance to throw them together. Hermione's packing yours, Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said as she began doling out eggs.

"Blimey," Fred said lowly to George. "I hope McGonagall doesn't find those Canary Creams."

George gave a grin. "What if she tried one?"

An identical smile spread over Fred's features. "That'd be funny. We'd probably get detention, but it'd be funny."

"What's a Canary Cream?" Tony asked as he sat down next to the twins with a plate full of food.

"It's a sweet we've developed," George explained, eyeing his mother warily to see if she was listening. "It'll turn you into a canary for a few seconds, that's all."

The tell tale clunking of Moody's wooden leg was soon sounded. A moment later, he and Tonks appeared in the kitchen.

"Good morning NCIS, Weasleys. Watcher, Harry!" Tonks greeted. "We all ready to go?"

"Not quite, Tonks. Their trunks haven't gotten here yet," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Hang the trunks," Tonks said with a wave of her hand. "Let them go in their robes!"

"Quit your yapping, Tonks!" Moody growled. "We're going the Muggle way. We can't have all them going around London in their Hogwarts things! Your hair's going to be drawing enough attention!"

Tonks put her hand affectionately on her pink hair. "You're hurting its feelings, Mad-Eye! Apologize!"

Moody muttered something that could not be comprehended.

"Your eye's going to draw more looks than my hair," Tonks pointed out.

"That's what this is for," Moody said, holding up a bowler hat.

Abby put a hand to her mouth to keep herself from giggling as Moody put the hat on and angled it downward to hide his magical blue eye. He looked utterly ridiculous.

Several loud thumps sounded from the entrance hallway.

"That'll be the trunks!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "Go on and get them. Get changed and we'll go see Dad!"

Fred and George gave a triumphant whoop and abandoned their food to go haul their trunks up to their room. Harry, Ron, and Ginny followed suite without so much noise.

"Wait until Dad finds out the Muggles are here," Ron said as he heaved his trunk up the steps.

"Better not tell him," Ginny said with a grunt as her trunk got stuck on a stair. "He'll be up and out of St. Mungo's before he's at all well enough to go."

"Thanks so much for coming, Mad-Eye," Mrs. Weasley said as she began to clean up after her children.

"Can't let Potter off around London without proper protection, now can we?" Moody said. His magical eye suddenly stopped twirling crazily around. "Damn it! Stuck again," he muttered.

"Oh, don't clean it here, Mad-Eye," Tonks whined. "It's so gross!"

"Glass, Molly?" Moody asked, ignoring Tonks.

"Only if you'll take it into the other room, Alastor," Mrs. Weasley said, grabbing a glass, filling it with water, and handing it off to Moody, who mumbled all the way to the next room.

"While we're gone you'll just have Sirius here," Mrs. Weasley told NCIS as she fastened on her traveling cloak. "I don't think he's up yet, but he'll show you around if you ask when he comes down. It'd be best if you stuck to the rooms you know until then. We've had some nasty experiences while cleaning up here."

"Doxies aren't so bad, Molly!" Tonks said with a laugh.

"It's not the doxies I'm worried about, Tonks," Mrs. Weasley said somewhat waspishly. She suddenly paused and looked around her feet. "Where's Kreacher? I haven't seen him recently at all!"

"Who cares about Kreacher?" Fred asked, appearing behind his mother with a _crack_.

"I count myself as lucky if I can avoid that thing for a day," George said a second later, also materializing behind his mother.

Mrs. Weasley started, then turned around and put her hands on her hips for a moment before pointing an accusing finger at her sons. "The next time you two do that I will use a Permanent Sticking Charm and stick you to the floor! Where's everyone else?" she asked aggressively as her sons all but trembled under her frightening gaze.

Ginny came back into the kitchen and looked delighted to see her brothers in trouble. She smirked as she sat down by Ziva.

Mrs. Weasley seemed satisfied with her sons' new composures and went over to the stairs. "Ron! Harry! Come on!" Half a minute past before Ron and Harry came into the kitchen.

Moody reentered as well, his eye once again whirling around crazily. He put the glass of water in the sink and began walking toward the entrance hallway. "Let's get going!" he gruffly demanded.

"Just in case Sirius doesn't get up before you're hungry again," Mrs. Weasley said hurriedly as her family was swept away by Moody and Tonks, "the cabinet there on the bottom left is cold storage. Fruit and such is in the pantry, along with pots and pans –"

"Mum, they know how to look around and find stuff!" Fred said from over by the front door.

"Yeah, DiNozzo has plenty of experience sniffing out food," George elaborated.

"We'll be back in a few hours," Mrs. Weasley said. She waved distractedly and joined the party leaving. "Fred! You put that wand away or – "

"I'm George, Mum!"

"Don't you try pulling that on me again!"

"No, really, Mum! He is George. I'm Fred!"

"You're wearing your sweaters from last year's Christmas," Ginny said dully. "You have a 'G' on your shirt, George!"

The front door swung shut.

"I don't know about you," Tony said, "but I'm not sticking to the kitchen and my room." He began to wander off.

"Tony!" McGee called. "Mrs. Weasley told us to stay put!"

"You go ahead and listen to Mommy, Timmy. I'm going to entertain myself."

McGee, Ziva, and Abby, all not wanting to be left out, got up and followed Tony.

"We're perfectly safe here, Jethro," Ducky said soothingly, observing Gibbs' suddenly very thoughtful face. "You heard Remus and Sirius last night, this place has all sorts of enchantments on it!"

"What good will that do if there's a mole feeding information to Voldemort?" Gibbs asked.

"Come on now, Jethro!"

"There was one last time, Ducky! I don't trust that things have changed this time around."

"You have to trust what they tell us," Ducky said firmly. "Much as you may not like to admit it, Jethro, we _need_ their protection. Without the Order he _will _find us before we get to Hogwarts, and we both know what sorts of things would happen then."

Gibbs sighed with frustration before getting up to do exploring of his own.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Next chapter - Involved

I like you guys, I promise I do! I just... don't have time to write. I thought I'd have a lot this week, but I haven't. Sad face.

Even though I'm super cruel and am slower than a turtle when it comes to updating this story, leave me a review?


	5. Involved

**FIVE - Involved**

Sirius awoke half an hour after the Weasleys left. He entered the kitchen to find only the Medical Examiner.

"Ducky, right?" Sirius asked, seating himself and grabbing a cold and forgotten sausage.

Ducky smiled. "You do look very different from those posters I saw last time I was here."

Sirius gave a half-hearted smile.

"This is the house you grew up in?" Ducky asked quickly in attempt to change the subject.

"I try not to remind myself of the fact," Sirius said. "I'm everything my family hated. A great deal of my family were or are Death Eaters, if that tells you anything.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Off exploring, I'm afraid," Ducky said with a sigh.

Sirius shrugged. "I think we cleared most of the harmful stuff out over the summer. Did the Weasleys go to see Arthur?"

Ducky nodded. "I've been told he was attacked by a giant snake?"

"Voldemort's," Sirius said with a nod. "Nagini, nasty thing."

Ducky looked quickly around, as if expecting someone to be hiding in the shadows of the kitchen. "I think it'd be best if we kept that detail a secret."

"Why's that?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because he knows I won't like it," Gibbs growled, entering. "Mr. Weasley was bitten by Voldemort's snake? Where is this thing that he was guarding?"

"I promised Dumbledore I wouldn't tell you," Sirius said, his teeth gritted slightly. "I'd like to, really, I think you ought to know, but I gave my word."

"I want to talk to him," Gibbs said. "Dumbledore, before we actually go to Hogwarts."

"How very convenient that I happened to drop in just now then, Agent Gibbs," said a familiar voice. Gibbs turned to see the unmistakable Albus Dumbledore walking into the kitchen. "Minerva sends her apologies for leaving so quickly yesterday. She knows you had so much you wanted to argue over."

Gibbs shook hands with Dumbledore and the pair sat down at the table.

"I don't appreciate you keeping us in the dark, Professor," Gibbs said, getting straight to the point. "If you're expecting us to be allies, we need to be on the same level. I want to know _everything _that the Order knows."

"I understand your frustration, Agent Gibbs, truly, I do. But for your own and your team's safety, I think it best that a few details be left out," Dumbledore said patiently.

"To hell with your idea of safety," Gibbs growled, his face beginning to become red and blotchy as he fought to maintain his temper. "Last time I brought my team to your world I almost lost all of them, and that was when we thought there was no 'real' danger. There is already a huge threat this time, and I will not be uninformed. Either you tell us everything, or we'll pack up and head home now."

"I'm afraid, Agent Gibbs, that I cannot allow you to leave," Dumbledore said evenly.

"What?" Gibbs snapped, his eyes narrowing.

"Voldemort already knows that you are here," Dumbledore explained. "His servants are quick to inform him. I cannot allow you to leave in good conscience because you would not get very far before disappearing."

"So we're trapped here?"

"You're not the only ones," Sirius mumbled.

"Voldemort is not particularly pleased that Muggles have managed to involve themselves in the magical world," Dumbledore said. Gibbs interrupted before the headmaster could continue.

"We didn't involve ourselves, you did! You owe it to us to tell us everything," he demanded. "If Voldemort is coming after my team, I'm damn sure going to know everything possible about him, whether it's you who tells me or not!"

Dumbledore connected his fingers at the tips and studied Gibbs' furious face. "Very well, Agent Gibbs," he said. "I will grant you your wish on the condition that it _stays in your team_. I cannot begin to tell you what disasters would befall us should this become common knowledge."

"Done," Gibbs said, extending his hand. He and Dumbledore shook on the pact.

"Disclose information at your will, Sirius," Dumbledore said. He rose and was headed for the door when Tony, Ziva, McGee, and Abby very nearly ran into him.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Tony said apprehensively. "We weren't expecting to see you for a while."

"I decided to drop in for a short visit," Dumbledore said. "I'm afraid I must leave now, however. Good day!"

"Bye," Tony said as Dumbledore exited. He and his three companions burst into the kitchen.

"What was he doing here?" Abby asked.

"It is not as though he can afford to just leave Hogwarts whenever he feels," Ziva said.

"Did something bad happen?" McGee asked.

"Sit down and shut up!" Gibbs barked. His charges quickly dropped themselves into seats. "Some things weren't explained to us yesterday," he said, "Sirius is going to fill in those blank spots." Gibbs looked at the fugitive expectantly.

Sirius rubbed his hands together and leaned forward, a joyous look on his face. "What is it you want to know?" he asked with a smile.

* * *

><p>Gibbs was nowhere near finished asking Sirius questions by the time the Weasleys returned from St. Mungo's. Out of respect for Mrs. Weasley, however, he put a halt to the conversation.<p>

"How's Mr. Weasley?" Abby asked Mrs. Weasley.

"He's doing well!" Mrs. Weasley responded with a wide smile. "Once he stops bleeding he'll be released."

Tony looked at Ziva with raised eyebrows. "'Once he stops bleeding'?" he mouthed. Ziva shrugged.

"Sirius, would you mind terribly if we stayed through break?" Mrs. Weasley asked somewhat nervously.

Sirius grinned. "Not at all!" he said with joyous sincerity. "I'd be delighted!"

Gibbs looked at the children as they began to go their separate ways and noticed they all looked distracted and more than a little unsettled. He quietly rose from the table and ascended the stairs to his and Ducky's room to be left in peace with his vicious thoughts.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Next Chapter - Fair Warning

Short, I know, but it didn't take me two weeks to update! YAAAAYY!

I plan on making a bouquet of reviews. Care to be a part? =)


	6. Fair Warning

**SIX – Fair Warning**

Over the next few days Order members flitted in and out of the house, Hermione Granger came to spend the holidays, and people were generally in high spirits. Gibbs, however, maintained a quiet composure. While he did not purposefully avoid people (indeed, he kept his team in his sights as much as possible), he and Sirius often spoke in low tones, quite inaudible to anyone but each other, despite the effort of the twins, at the backs of rooms.

Tony, Fred, and George had picked up their odd sort of relationship since they had last seen each other and frequently joked and pranked each other. McGee was not particularly fond of the new development as it meant the twins apparating into his and Tony's room with absolutely no notice all too often.

Ziva had worked her way back into Hermione and Ginny's confidences, but Harry seemed to want no one's company except Ron's and Hermione's. In fact, half the time he seemed to want even them to go away. Ziva chose not to force herself on the trio when they were together, as she had been warned that Harry had developed quite the temper.

Tonks came in almost every day, and when she did she and Abby would talk and giggle together as though they had been best friends for years. McGee was sometimes seen with them, but he, for the most part, remained in the kitchen, helping Mrs. Weasley and staying up to date on news to report back to Gibbs with.

Christmas morning came and Gibbs awoke to find a few wrapped boxes at his feet. "What the - ?"

"English tradition, Jethro!" Ducky said happily, putting on his glasses.

"Then what the hell's the tree downstairs for?" Gibbs asked.

"Decoration," Ducky said simply, grabbing one of the presents from the edge of his bed and carefully unwrapping it so as not to rip the paper, as if he intended on reusing it.

Gibbs left his presents unopened and changed quickly before entering the hallway. Almost as soon as he stepped foot outside his room, he found himself engulfed in a hug from Abby.

"Thanks so much, Gibbs! This necklace is _so_ pretty! Merry Christmas!" she said, releasing him. "Did you like my present?"

"I haven't opened anything, Abby," Gibbs said. He attempted to walk forward, but Abby stood firmly in his way.

"Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, you turn back around this moment and open those presents!" she demanded.

"Abby, - What's that you're wearing?" Gibbs asked, distracted by a knitted black sweater with a red smiley face on it.

Abby gripped the sweater affectionately. "It's from Mrs. Weasley! Isn't she just the sweetest thing ever? She's the one that put all the presents on our beds, you know. I was awake when she did it, but I pretended to be asleep for her. I thought for sure that I'd see Santa here in the magical world if I just stayed up long enough!"

"Abby," Gibbs said as though he were tired. He tried to get around her once more, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him around back to his room.

"You're opening these presents," Abby again insisted, "and before you go downstairs! Look, there! Mrs. Weasley's given you something, too! She'll think you don't like it if you don't try it out!" Abby forced the package from Mrs. Weasley into Gibbs' hands.

Gibbs sighed heavily and resigned himself to the fact that, whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to open all his presents before Abby allowed him to go anywhere, and so he unwrapped the package from Mrs. Weasley. A white scarf with _Marine_ emblazoned on it in black with golden yellow and red edges fell out along with something resembling a cupcake.

"Oh!" Abby exclaimed. "Look at that! Do you see how much thought she put into this for you, Gibbs? Come on! Put it on!"

Before Gibbs even got the chance, Abby snatched up the scarf and twirled it around his neck. "Perfect!" she said.

"Abby! Look! I got one too!" Ziva said excitedly, pointing at Abby's top as she entered the room. Ziva's sweater was midnight blue and had odd characters running across its center in golden yellow. "It is my name in Ancient Runes," she explained. "Hermione must have told her I like them."

Gibbs took advantage of Abby's distraction and quickly ripped through the rest of his presents. In addition to the scarf from Mrs. Weasley, he received a large package of coffee from Tony, Ziva, and McGee, a simple watch from Ducky, an assortment of magical candy from Abby, and even a bag of owl treats with a rather sarcastic note from Professor McGonagall.

"Are Tony and McGee up yet?" Abby asked suddenly. "I bet they aren't!" She zoomed out of the room and into McGee and Tony's, where she could soon be heard trying to rouse them.

"Mittens!" Ducky said with a grin as he opened Mrs. Weasley's present. "And look, they even have the removable finger covers! How very convenient! They're so hard to find nowadays."

"I don't know what Mrs. Weasley's making, but it smells delicious!" Tony said a few minutes later out in the hall. He, too, was wearing a sweater. It was green with his name spelled out in brown.

"I smell bacon," McGee said happily. His sweater was a muted sort of red and had a quill on it.

"What the hell's that?" Tony asked, pointing at the quill.

"Mrs. Weasley knows I like to write," McGee said. "Do you have a problem with my sweater, Tony?"

Tony scrunched up his nose for a moment before beginning to descend the stairs quickly.

Gibbs entered the kitchen a few minutes after the rest of his team. Mrs. Weasley had opted to set breakfast up buffet-style, so he grabbed a plate and began to journey down the counter, putting onto his plate whatever he chose.

"Oh, good, you got it!" Mrs. Weasley said, looking at the scarf around Gibbs' neck as he finally came to where she was still cooking away. "I couldn't remember if I had set it out."

"It's very nice," Gibbs said with a nod.

Mrs. Weasley smiled. "I figured you weren't one much for sweaters," she explained. "Timothy's told me about how you were in the Marine Corps, so I thought – "

"It's great, Mrs. Weasley," Gibbs said. "Thank you." After receiving another smile, he moved to sit at the table where he noticed each of the Weasley children, plus Harry and Hermione, had sweaters on. He was particularly pleased to see that Fred and George had an F and a G on theirs, respectively. As long as they kept their sweaters on he would easily be able to tell the two apart.

"Sirius, you've already fed that blasted thing today!" Mrs. Weasley chastised as Sirius attempted to pass her with a couple of strips of bacon.

"Fed what?" Ziva asked, saving Sirius from answering to Mrs. Weasley.

"Buckbeak," Sirius said, "a hippogriff."

"Hippogriff?" Ziva said, her eyes widening. "May I see it?"

"Sure," Sirius said, more than happy to oblige. "He's upstairs."

"Why does the name Buckbeak sound familiar?" Ziva asked as she followed Sirius.

"Buckbeak used to be at Hogwarts," Sirius said. "He's the one that attacked the Malfoy twirp."

"That is why!" Ziva said. "Hermione said she was helping Hagrid with Buckbeak's case!"

Sirius nodded. "Buckbeak was sentenced to death, so he and I escaped together. He's been here since I moved back in. When you go in, don't say anything offensive toward him – "

"I believe I know how to approach a Hippogriff," Ziva said with a smile. "May I have a few pieces of bacon?"

Sirius gave Ziva half the bacon he had sneaked by with and opened a door to reveal a large animal that seemed a combination between a bird and some sort of big cat. The Hippogriff sniffed the air interestedly and looked at Ziva somewhat suspiciously. She bent in a bow which Buckbeak quickly returned. She offered him the bacon in her hands, which he grabbed eagerly and allowed her to touch him.

"He is gorgeous," Ziva said as she ran her hand over Buckbeack's head.

A comfortable sort of silence settled. Ziva continued to pet Buckbeak and Sirius gave the creature the remainder of bacon.

"I don't think we've given you enough warning about what to expect back at Hogwarts," Sirius said after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Ziva asked.

"I mean Umbridge."

"She sounds like an unpleasant woman, but we have dealt with unpleasant people before," Ziva said.

"Unpleasant is a very large understatement," Sirius said. "She's a nightmare, worse than, even."

"How so?" Ziva gave Buckbeak one last pat and then sat next to Sirius against a wall.

"The Ministry's suspected for a while now that Dumbledore – "

"Is planning to overthrow them," Ziva finished Sirius' thought. "We have agreed that is ridiculous."

"But Fudge still believes it. We told you that Umbridge was put in place to prevent that, and you read all the rules she's installed," Sirius said.

"I have. What is your point, Sirius?"

"Once you get to Hogwarts Umbridge is going to suspect Dumbledore of using you all to get to other Muggles."

"I was under the impression that is exactly what we are going to do," Ziva said confusedly.

"Yes, but she can't know that," Sirius pointed out. "She's going to do anything in her power to send you back to D.C., or worse, to keep you locked up in Hogwarts so you can't get to any other Muggles. The second option is, unfortunately, the more likely one, much as she'll hate every single one of you."

"You believe she intends on making us prisoners?" Ziva asked.

"More or less," Sirius answered. "McGonagall and Snape are in the Order, they'll be doing whatever they can for you, but they're power has become rather limited. Umbridge can't know that you've been here for so long. She's got to think you arrived here the same day that you'll travel to Hogwarts."

"Do the children know that?" Ziva asked. "We have spent quite some time with them – "

"Molly's going to talk to them before they leave," Sirius said. "Technically I was supposed to wait and talk to you all until then, too, but I don't think it'd be fair to throw that at you on such short notice."

Ziva nodded. "Is Hagrid in the Order?" she asked. "Last time we were here I got the impression that Dumbledore trusted him very much."

"Hagrid is in the Order," Sirius confirmed. "He's on pretty thin ice at the moment, though. It'd be best for all involved if you left him to his own space. Anyone that associates with you at Hogwarts is going to be watched more closely by Umbridge, and Hagrid can't really afford that."

"I do not like this," Ziva sighed.

"No one does. You lot just worry about keeping out of Umbridge's way. We're glad to have you all, of course, but our main goal is to get your Director to the Prime Minister."

Ziva nodded her understanding.

"Are there any old _Prophet_s that I can have?" she asked.

"You'll have to ask someone else," Sirius said with a sort of smirk on his face. "I've taken to burning them after I've read them."

"Why is that?" Ziva asked with a laugh.

"I can't stand the way they're bashing my godson," Sirius said simply. "I can't wait until they have to eat their words and admit that Voldemort's back. I'll be sure to send you an owl with a copy of the article."

Ziva smiled. "I would like that."

"Can I ask you something that might seem completely out of place?" Sirius asked.

"I do not see why not," Ziva said.

A broad grin spread on Sirius' face. "Did you really punch Snape in the face after you got out of the forest a couple years ago?"

Ziva returned Sirius' grin. "Yes I did," she admitted without a qualm.

"I knew I liked you!" Sirius said with a laugh.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Next Chapter: - Causes for Concern

I had the opportunity to write Christmas with the Order. I took it. Deal.

Review!


	7. Causes for Concern

**Causes for Concern**

More than a week passed without much incident at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. The Weasleys went to St. Mungo's on a regular basis to visit Mr. Weasley and NCIS had found various things to occupy their time.

Gibbs had been unable to ignore the peeling wallpaper and rotting wood in the house. He, assisted by Tony, McGee, and even Ducky, were often diligently at work to repair the unflattering aspects of the house. They were well rewarded. Mrs. Weasley loved the new touches, and so kept producing food so wonderful and in such great amounts it was a wonder that the agents still had agents' physiques. Abby and Ziva did whatever odd jobs they could find, not minding helping out in the least.

The day before more than half the house was to leave for Hogwarts, one of its professor stopped by.

"Snape!" Abby said with a smile as the man entered the kitchen, looking like his usual displeased self; it did not seem to bother the scientist at all. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still at Hogwarts!"

"I need to speak with Potter," Snape said to Mrs. Weasley in what must have been the most polite voice he could muster.

"Certainly, Severus. Would you like something to eat?" Mrs. Weasley kindly offered.

"No, thank you. I must be getting back to the school soon."

"Of course," Mrs. Weasley said as she rinsed her hands. "Break's gone well, I hope?"

"As well as it could have." Snape looked like he may have wanted to say something else. Gibbs guessed it to be against Mrs. Weasley's children as Snape was not the kind of person that usually with held his smart comments. Gibbs smiled behind the paper he was reading, wondering just how many people Molly Weasley had under her thumb.

"You, sir," Abby said, hands on hips, "stopped writing – "

"Yes, Miss Scuito, I did," Snape said rather lazily, cutting Abby off. "I've had a rather lot to do in the past couple of months, more pressing matters than maintaining extraneous communications. Now, if you don't mind, I need to speak to Mr. Potter _alone_."

Gibbs looked at Snape suspiciously for a moment, but then rose and began journeying up to the parlor on the main floor. His team followed him. As he left, he heard Sirius say, "Don't think so, Snape. I'm staying right here."

Fred and George were sat in the parlor, hunched over a scroll of parchment.

"I'm telling you, George, it'd be better to go for this one here. We can afford it now and just skip off, forget spending the rest of the year with Umbridge!"

"This one's in _Diagon Alley_, Fred! Just a few more months and then we're set! If we keep on the way we're – "

Fred and George cut off suddenly, taking notice of the entrance of NCIS.

"Whatcha got there, boys?" Tony asked, sitting down by the twins.

"Nothing of importance, DiNozzo," Fred said nonchalantly, rolling up the parchment he and George had been arguing over.

"You're not planning on leaving school early, are you?" Tony asked with raised eyebrows. "That'd kill your mother."

"Of _course_ we're not," George said smoothly.

"Unless Umbridge bans gingers from wandering the hallways without supervision," Fred said rather cheerily.

"Then we're booking it," George agreed.

"Funny," Tony said unamusedly.

"Fred! George!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly, bursting into the room. "Go get Ron, Ginny, and Hermione!"

"What's up, Mum?" Fred said concernedly.

"Your father's back!" Mrs. Weasley said, giving the widest and truest smile the NCIS team had seen on her face since arriving. She headed down the main hallway and flung open the front door to reveal her husband grinning and wearing pajamas. He and his wife hugged, then she took the small suitcase he had and threw it aside.

"Look who's here, Arthur!" she said, leading her husband into the parlor.

"Merlin's beard!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed. "Agent Gibbs! How _have_ you been?" he asked as he shook Gibbs' hand enthusiastically.

"I think that's a better question for me to ask you, Mr. Weasley," Gibbs said.

"I'm much better now that I'm out of the hospital," Mr. Weasley said with a smile. "I have to insist on talking with you later! How long have you been here?"

"Since the night you were attacked," Gibbs answered.

Mr. Weasley looked over at his wife by his side. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I wanted you to get well, Arthur! You know how you are about Muggles! I wasn't going to have you trying to sneak off," Mrs. Weasley said, a bit of color in her cheeks.

"Dad!" Ginny said excitedly, flying into the room and hugging her father. Ron and Hermione came in with Fred and George.

"Where's Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked after hugging all his children. He looked significantly at his wife, quite a bit of worry evident in his face.

"He's down in the kitchen, dear!" Mrs. Weasley said. "Professor Snape stopped by to talk to him."

"Ah," Mr. Weasley said. He had no further questions, making Gibbs suspect he knew the topic of the meeting.

"Come on!" Mrs. Weasley said, beginning to steer her husband toward the kitchen. "That hospital wasn't feeding you properly! You're not fitting into your robes right!"

"St. Mungo's fed me just fine, Molly," Mr. Weasley said exasperatedly, but with a smile. "I just got bitten by a big snake, is all. I've been a little off!"

Ziva chuckled as the Weasley clan made their way out of the room. "I think Mr. Weasley will have _trouble_ fitting into his robes soon," she said.

"Come on, Ziva!" Abby said, popping off her seat. "You know Mrs. Weasley's going to make the feast of all feasts! Let's help!"

"Dibs on corn! Dibs on corn!" Tony said, bolting out with Ziva and Abby.

"You made the corn last time, Tony!" Ziva objected from out of sight.

Gibbs ran into Snape as he went down to the kitchen.

"Agent Gibbs," Snape said in greeting as he walked around the man to the front door.

"Professor Snape," Gibbs said, stopping the professor from leaving. "I need to know from an inside source. What can my team and I expect when we come back to Hogwarts?"

Snape considered for half a moment, not breaking eye contact with Gibbs. "If I were you, Agent Gibbs, I would prepare myself to feel very limited in what I can and cannot do whilst at Hogwarts."

"What's Umbridge done?" Gibbs asked lowly.

"A great deal, Agent Gibbs," Snape said. "She will no doubt inform you of what she expects from you upon your arrival. Oh," he said, just before opening the door, "do take care not to mention the Order around her or any students." He left without another word.

Gibbs went down to the kitchen and joined in the celebrations of Mr. Weasley's return, but inside he felt rather worried about going back to Hogwarts. Ziva had told him that Sirius said to expect becoming a prisoner. What Snape had just said confirmed Gibbs's fear that, despite having no murderer to catch, Hogwarts was not going to be any more pleasant this time around than it had been previously.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Next chapter - En Route (yes finally, going to Hogwarts!)

Short? Yes. Long time between updates? Yes. Sorry. School sucks. Review anyway!


	8. En Route

**En Route**

"Ginny, run upstairs, give these to your brother," Mrs. Weasley said and held out a pair of socks as her daughter ran past her.

"Which one?" Ginny asked.

"Ron," Mrs. Weasley said. "Oh, no! Those are Harry's. My mistake. These are Ron's. Bring them both up, would you, please?"

"Tony!" Ziva shouted, bursting into the kitchen where Tony sat scarfing down one last meal from Mrs. Weasley. "What did you do with my sweater?" she asked aggressively.

"I washed it for you, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, pointing at a small stack of neatly folded clothes. "You've been wearing it so much I thought you'd want it to be clean before you left."

Ziva picked up her sweater along with a pair of her cargos and a couple of shirts. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. I am sorry for yelling. When things of mine disappear it is typically Tony's – "

"I've raised seven children, Ziva, I know how it goes," Mrs. Weasley said good naturedly. "Arthur! When are Remus and Tonks supposed to arrive?"

Ziva grabbed a pile of clothes she recognized as Abby's, made a face at a smirking Tony, and dashed back upstairs to finish packing.

As Ziva ran up the stairs, Gibbs came down them with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "You're not packed yet, Ziva?" he asked.

"Almost done!" Ziva replied without stopping.

"Mum! Have you seen my shoes?" Ron asked, entering the kitchen while scratching his head.

"No, I haven't, dear," Mrs. Weasley said as she put several items of food onto her husband's plate. "See if Fred or George took them by mistake."

"If they do have them it's not any mistake," Ron mumbled as he left.

"Come on, you lot!" Mrs. Weasley shouted up the stairs. "You're going to be late!"

"We're not taking the train, Mum! How can we be late?" Ginny's voice called faintly.

Tonks and Lupin entered the kitchen, both with rosy cheeks and red noses from the cold outside.

"Ready, Molly?" Lupin asked.

"They haven't even eaten yet," Mrs. Weasley said. "Hurry up!" she called up the stairs once more.

"How are we getting back?" Tony asked, realization of his lack of knowledge of travel plans dawning on him.

"You'll be taking the train, I think," Mrs. Weasley said. Harry and Ron flew into the kitchen and sat down. Mrs. Weasley hurriedly dumped a hearty breakfast onto plates for them.

"Train?" said Tony.

"The Hogwarts Express," Mrs. Weasley said. "I'll explain in just a moment. Fred! George! Get down here and eat!"

"Don't throw a fit, Mum!" said Fred, appearing out of thin air with his brother a few feet behind Mrs. Weasley.

"We're here!" George added.

Mrs. Weasley was so flustered over trying to get her children out on time that she failed to scold her sons for doing precisely what she had forbidden them to do.

Ginny and Hermione made their way down last and ate so quickly to catch up with the boys that Hermione nearly choked several times.

As soon as the students were finished eating, all the witches and wizards disappeared into the main hallway, leaving Tony and Gibbs alone in the kitchen.

"Mr. Weasley said earlier that they're not getting back to Hogwarts the same way as his kids," Tony said to his boss. "And if we're going back on the Hogwarts Express, we have to be going back with all the _other_ kids."

Gibbs nodded slowly. "Makes sense."

"Why?" Tony half-whined.

"I'm sure we'll be told," Gibbs said.

"Done!" Ziva announced, entering the kitchen with her suitcase. "Oh! French toast! Where is everyone?"

"Being seen off," Tony said somewhat sourly.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley soon reappeared in the kitchen.

"Now, I wasn't supposed to tell you while the children were still here," Mrs. Weasley said as she dished out seconds to Gibbs and thirds to Tony, "but Professor McGonagall's going to be here soon to talk to you about getting back."

"How soon is soon?" Gibbs asked, looking at his watch.

"Last night she sent word she would be here no later than nine thirty," Mrs. Weasley said. "Good morning, Timothy!"

"Morning, Mrs. Weasley!" McGee greeted, entering the kitchen and sitting himself down.

"If she's on time, she'll be here in three minutes," Gibbs said.

"That woman's always on time," Mr. Weasley said. "That you can count on! Now, just very quickly, Agent Gibbs, what is a calculator and how does it work?"

"McGee," Gibbs said with a bit of a sigh, as though he had already answered a multitude of Mr. Weasley's questions.

McGee began explaining to Mr. Weasley, in great detail, how a calculator worked.

"No more questions, Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley chided as her husband prepared to speak more. "Tim needs to have a good breakfast before heading off. All they sell on that train are sweets!"

"Yes, dear," Mr. Weasley said resignedly, looking disappointed.

Abby and Ducky entered the kitchen at the same time. Not even half a minute later, Professor McGonagall walked in, nine thirty on the dot.

"McGonagall," Gibbs greeted.

"Gibbs," McGonagall replied. She pulled several tickets out of her pocket and laid them out on the table. "Those are your tickets for the train. You'll get to King's Cross by Floo Powder."

"Nine and three quarters?" Ducky said as he looked at his ticket. "There must be some mistake here, Professor!"

"No mistake, Dr. Mallard."

"Ducky!"

"To get to the platform you'll have to walk through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's the way it's done. The train doesn't leave until eleven, but we're sending you off at nine forty-five so you can get on and settled by ten," McGonagall said. "That way you won't have to deal with the students as they get on. Come on, now. Eat up! You don't have much time."

"Why are we going on the train?" Tony asked rudely around a mouthful of toast.

"So that the students see you," McGonagall said simply, unphased by Tony's lack of manners. "That way your arrival won't be hushed up so you can be sent off without any commotion." Her nostrils flared slightly as she spoke.

"Umbridge?" Ziva asked.

Professor McGonagall responded only by narrowing her lips.

"But you said the Ministry gave us permission to return to Hogwarts!" Ziva said, sounding slightly outraged. "Have they changed their minds?"

"There is only one mind that needs to be changed for you to be sent away, Officer David," McGonagall said hotly. "That is the second reason I have come to see you off; there are a few more things you need to know. Dolores Umbridge absolutely _cannot _know that you have been away from Washington D.C. as long as you have been. As far as she and the rest of this world are concerned, you arrived on an airplane this morning and went straight from the airport to the train station.

"While you are at Hogwarts, the Order of the Phoenix does not exist. It will not be mentioned, spoken about, or hinted at. You never heard of it. Are we understood?" McGonagall asked. She received several nods, an answer which seemed to satisfy her. "You will not be staying in the Room of Requirement. As far as you know, that doesn't exist, either."

"Why?" McGee asked slowly.

"Because the effects of Dolores Umbridge discovering that room would be absolutely catastrophic," McGonagall said conversationally. She looked at the clock in the kitchen. "Eight minutes. You'll meet Alastor at the station, he'll get you through to the platform." She pulled a pouch out of her pocket and set it on the table.

"Message for Minerva McGonagall!" called a voice from upstairs that Gibbs had learned to recognize.

"Damn, that'll be her looking for me," McGonagall said darkly as she hurried to receive her message.

"If we're going by Floo, I don't think I should eat anymore," McGee said, pushing his plate away and looking at the pouch McGonagall had produced warily.

"Thank you so much for the hospitality, Mrs. Weasley," Ducky said as he rose from his place. "I'm glad you're recovered, Mr. Weasley. Where is Sirius? We must thank him, as well!"

"Sirius is feeling a little off today," Mrs. Weasley said, choosing her words carefully. "I think he's best left alone. I'll pass his thanks on for you."

Ziva quickly excused herself and disappeared up the stairs. McGonagall came back down only seconds later.

"Well, Minerva?" Mr. Weasley asked expectantly.

"She's looking for me, alright," McGonagall said with displeasure. "Of course I can't be trusted to be left alone for ten minutes put together!" She huffed and looked at the clock. "Best get you lot out of here. Where's Agent David?"

"Saying goodbye to Sirius," Tony quickly supplied. "She'll catch up."

"Very well," McGonagall sighed. She stood in front of the fireplace in the kitchen and held out her bag full of powder to the NCIS team. "King's Cross. Off you go!"

Tony rubbed his right forearm, feeling a slight twinge of pain from the burn he received long ago, but took a pinch of powder and walked into the fire, anyway. "King's Cross," he said clearly, and then disappeared.

Ziva returned after McGee and Ducky had gone through.

"Abby, go," Gibbs directed. As Abby took her time going through the fire, Gibbs asked Ziva something in a foreign language. She responded in the same tongue, and then left after Abby.

"How do I greet this Umbridge woman?" Gibbs asked McGonagall as he took a bit of powder.

"Don't," McGonagall replied. "I suggest running in the opposite direction."

"Somehow I don't think that'll go over well," Gibbs said, though he smiled slightly to acknowledge the professor's poor attempt at humor.

"As much as I hate to say it, your best option is to let her come to you," McGonagall said, closing her eyes briefly in agitation. "Whatever you may have the urge to do, do the opposite. Now hurry up, or Alastor is going to cause a scene looking for you."

Gibbs stepped into the fire and caught sight of McGonagall quickly turning to leave before he was whisked away by magic.

"Mind taking a little longer next time, Gibbs?" the gruff voice of Alastor Moody said sarcastically as Gibbs rolled out of a fire place.

"I'm here now, Moody," Gibbs said as he brushed some ash off his jacket. "Let's get going."

Moody, once again with a hat pulled down over his magical eye, lead the group out of the tiny brick room they'd arrived in and through the crowded train station, finally reaching the barrier between platforms nine and ten. "McGonagall told you how to get on?" he asked.

Gibbs nodded.

"You first, DiNozzo," Moody ordered.

"Whoah!" Tony objected. "I think McGoo wants to go." Tony quickly cracked under the stern looks of Gibbs and Moody. "There are days that being me really sucks," he muttered as he started toward the barrier.

"I thought that was every day, Tony," Ziva said smartly.

Tony turned his head to glare at Ziva and tripped in the process. He nearly shouted out in panic as he realized he would not be able to stop himself from falling before he hit his head on the unforgiving stone divider. He managed to catch himself just after he should have hit his head and quickly realized that he must have actually gone through the barrier. There in front of him was a large scarlet colored train, the words _Hogwarts Express_ clearly spelled out on it. He was rudely reminded to move forward by Abby running into him from behind.

"Cool!" Abby exclaimed as soon as she saw the train. "We should get a seat at the back!"

"It's not a roller coaster, Abby," Tony said.

"You're right. It's even better!"

McGee, Ziva, Ducky, and finally Gibbs came through the barrier.

"Moody's not coming through with us," Gibbs announced. "Said that if we can't figure out how to get on a train we don't deserve to go back to Hogwarts," he said with a sort of amused smirk.

"Where the hell do we turn in our tickets?" Tony asked, looking around for some sort of booth.

Ziva reached into her pocket and suddenly looked horrified. "I dropped mine!" she said in despair.

Gibbs delved his hand into his own pocket to discover it empty. The rest of his team had similar stories.

"Perhaps the ticket was what allowed us to go through the barrier and it disappears straight after?" Ducky hypothesized. "The barrier was, in a sense, the ticket booth."

Gibbs looked at the watch Ducky had given him for Christmas. "Get on the train now, before the rush gets here," he ordered. He and his team clambered onto the train.

"Back!" Abby said. "Back of the train!"

"No, Abby," Gibbs said, opening the door to a compartment in the middle of the train. "We need to be seen by the kids." Abby pouted for a moment, but could not argue with Gibbs' logic.

Tony and McGee hoisted everyone's luggage onto the over head compartments and then sat down with their colleagues to begin whispering furiously as students started to trickle onto the train.

"What did Professor McGonagall say about Miss Umbridge?" Ducky asked Gibbs.

"She told me to run in the opposite direction when I saw her," Gibbs answered.

"Damn," Tony commented. "This woman's got to be one massive piece of work if McGonagall's telling us to run from her."

"We saw her last time, at the ball," Abby pointed out. "She didn't seem so bad then. What's changed?"

"She was bad then," Gibbs said. "You just went off before you saw any of it."

"Umbridge likely hasn't changed at all. The only thing that has changed is the amount of power and control she has," Ducky said. "From what I read in those _Prophet_ articles Remus showed us, she has quite a bit of both!"

"Sirius thinks she is feeding the Ministry information about Harry to give to the _Prophet _to print," Ziva supplied, "to discredit him further."

"But she's a teacher!" McGee objected. "She can't do that!"

"As a teacher she shouldn't have power over the headmaster, either, McGee," Ducky pointed out. "Things seem to be quite topsy turvey at Hogwarts, presently. I think the only thing we can do is hope it doesn't cause us trouble!"

"There will be trouble," Ziva said. "McGonagall said that we are going on this train so that we cannot be shut up and sent away quietly. Sirius told me on Christmas that we may become, for all intents of purpose, prisoners of Hogwarts. Clearly, we are not wanted, and it seems obvious to me that whoever is currently unwanted by the Ministry might as well wave a white flag and hide in a corner!" She breathed deeply at the end of her spiel, as if she had not taken a breath all the way through it. "I do not like this."

"We go, we lay low, we get Vance in, get him to the Prime Minister, we go home," Gibbs said. "That's our plan and we're sticking to it as much as possible."

"The plan of the kids seeing us is working," Tony said as a couple of students walked by, attempting to look casual though they were staring through the window at the Muggles.

"Definitely can't send us away quietly now," McGee agreed as another group of students went by.

"I feel like an animal at the zoo," Ziva said unhappily.

"You've got to be joking!" said a rather loud voice in the narrow hallway outside.

Ziva looked out the window to see Draco Malfoy staring in. She narrowed her eyes at him and he found an excuse to leave quickly.

"I will kill him this time," she muttered.

"No, you won't," Gibbs said.

It seemed like days went by of various faces flitting past the compartment window, trying desperately to catch sight of the Muggles, before the train finally came to a halt. The NCIS team waited a few more minutes to allow the bulk of the students to get off the train first before pulling their luggage down and beginning to shuffle through the hallways toward the door of the train.

"Agent Gibbs!" said the crisp voice of Professor McGonagall as soon as Gibbs and company got off the train. "Leave you luggage right there; it will be taken care of. I hope your journey here went well?"

Gibbs nodded, playing along with the game that he and his team had been travelling nonstop all day. "Professor McGonagall," he greeted politely.

"You'll be going straight into the Great Hall for dinner," McGonagall said. "Find me afterwards and I'll show you to your room." In a quieter voice she added, "I must apologize on behalf of most of the staff for the room you've been given."

"Just the one?" Tony asked.

McGonagall ignored Tony's question. "Onto one of the carriages, come on!"

"How angry is she?" Gibbs asked McGonagall lowly as his team climbed into a carriage, Ziva already snapping at Tony for taking up too much space.

"She's been overly sweet all day," McGonagall said moodily. "That means nothing good for any of us. Just remember what I told you earlier today, and perhaps things will go well."

Gibbs climbed onto the carriage as McGonagall turned on the spot and disappeared.

Tony, Ziva, McGee, and Abby all chattered excitedly about returning to Hogwarts and seeing all their lost acquaintances the entire carriage ride.

"Oooooh!" Abby squealed, suddenly pressing her face against the carriage window. "We're here!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Next chapter: Orientation

Oh summer, how glorious you are with all your freedom! -deep breath of fresh air- Once I have de-stressed myself, I will write again!

You may now proceed to either share in my joy or curse me for being free of the bonds of school in a review... maybe mention somethign about the story. That'd be good. :)


	9. Orientation

**Orientation**

NCIS entered the Hogwarts castle at the same time as all the students, all reacting to the stares they received in different ways. Abby smiled and waved enthusiastically. Ducky simply said hello to anyone who looked at him. McGee continually pretended to be talking with Ziva, who, along with Gibbs and Tony, ignored the students all together.

As they stepped into the Great Hall, Ziva and McGee were hailed by Professors Flitwick and Sprout, respectively. The two were whisked away quickly to sit next to their old patrol partners. Madame Pomfrey had descended from the hospital wing to greet Ducky and the two sat next to each other. Madame Hooch greeted Tony by way of shoving a Quidditch magazine into his chest. Abby seated herself by Snape, whether he liked it or not. Gibbs noticed the wide open seat next to the deputy headmistress and took it.

"Have you been stared at enough, Jethro?" McGonagall asked casually as he sat down.

"Nah," Gibbs said sarcastically. "Haven't even noticed any staring, really." He looked past McGonagall to Dumbledore. "Nice to see you, Professor."

"Same to you, Agent Gibbs!" Dumbledore said cheerily, extending his hand. McGonagall leaned back slightly to allow Gibbs and the headmaster to shake hands.

"I've heard you've got a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Gibbs said quite casually, as if he had not known for weeks.

"Oh, yes," Dumbledore said. "Unfortunately, we seem to find ourselves in need of a new Defense teacher every year."

"Position must be cursed," Gibbs carelessly suggested.

"That is quite the theory," Dumbledore said.

"So how'd Moody do at the job?" Gibbs asked. "Minerva told me he filled in."

"Ah," Dumbledore said, looking at his deputy. "That's a rather complicated story, Agent G – "

McGonagall cleared her throat as half the conversation in the Hall died out suddenly. Gibbs looked to the massive double doors to see a short, toad like woman dressed in pink from head to toe walking smartly down the main aisle, looking straight at him.

"Brace yourself," McGonagall muttered.

"Mr. Gibbs," Umbridge greeted rather sweetly as she stood in front of him. "How nice of you to return to Hogwarts!"

Gibbs looked briefly over Umbridge's shoulder to see that a great majority of the hall had their eyes glued onto the confrontation between him and their professor. "We're happy to be back, Professor," he said politely.

Umbridge nodded and smiled with closed lips before quickly walking away to a seat on the very edge of the left side of the table. Gibbs noticed that McGonagall seemed to barely be restraining herself from smirking.

"She wanted me to say something stupid?" Gibbs said quietly.

"Oh, she was hoping for it," McGonagall confirmed, allowing for the faintest of smiles to show.

Dumbledore stood up to address his students. "Welcome back for another semester!" he said. "As you see, we have a few old friends joining us. Agent Gibbs and his colleagues are here to lend us their knowledge in Muggle Studies. I expect that all of you will be polite and attentive to our guests.

"Now, enough of my rambling! Let the feast begin!" the headmaster said and, with the gesture of his hand, food began to appear. Students, teachers, and Muggles alike all began putting food onto their plates eagerly and the sound of hundreds of conversations all melding into one large sort of murmur filled the hall.

"Well, Ziva, tell me how you've been!" Flitwick excitedly squeaked, keen to catch up with his patrol partner.

Ziva smiled at the small man beside her. "I have been well. I have been wondering why you stopped writing so abruptly, though," she said with casual coolness.

Flitwick glanced down the line up of the table to confirm that the ears he did not want to hear his answer were far away. "Owls have become a rather _unreliable_ way of communication this year," he said. "It seems the wind has been knocking an inordinate amount of the poor creatures into trees and walls. My owl was out of commission for a good month and a half after she got caught in an old oak tree."

"That is odd," Ziva commented. "Rowena never had any troubles before."

"Precisely," Flitwick said without his usual excitement.

Down the line, McGee smiled as Professor Sprout told him about an incident involving a second year and a mandrake.

"They fell into a bag of dragon dung?" McGee asked with amused disbelief.

"Every year at least one of them doesn't put their earmuffs on right," Sprout said with an amused chuckle. "I can't laugh at them during class, of course, but really! How many times have they put earmuffs on correctly when it doesn't matter? But the one time it _does _matter…. I really don't understand it."

"No way!" Tony exclaimed as Madame Hooch caught him up on Quidditch. "One player fouled the other team's Seeker _thirty_ times in _one_ game? How are they still on the team?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. Mark my words, if a student at Hogwarts ever does that they won't _want_ to get back on the pitch after I'm through with them!" Hooch said, pointing her fork at Tony to emphasize her vow.

"Classes start again tomorrow?" Gibbs asked McGonagall.

"Yes," McGonagall answered. She glanced down the table at Hagrid quickly, worry evident on her face. "I don't think this will be the best semester we've ever had."

Gibbs looked down at Hagrid too and noticed the oversized man had various injuries all over. "Umbridge watching him?"

"Very much so," McGonagall said. "He keeps getting more and more cuts and bruises. He won't tell anyone what's going on. It's just such – " McGonagall cut herself off with a sigh. "Why don't you come by my office after you get settled in your room?" she asked. "I can catch you up further, and run less of a risk of being overheard."

"I thought someone else might be dropping by to visit my team," Gibbs said, nodding ever so slightly at Umbridge down the table.

"I think she'll be too busy to visit tonight," McGonagall said. "She's been talking with the Minister all day. I don't expect that she's finished yet."

"What could she possibly spend all day talking to someone about?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.

McGonagall's lips twitched upward ever so slightly. "It couldn't be some obnoxious Muggles wheedling their way back into Hogwarts, could it?"

"I don't wheedle my way into things, Minerva," Gibbs said, "least of all into Hogwarts, where some of the most frustrating people I know can be found."

Dumbledore stood up and announced that it was time for students to get rested up for classes the next day.

McGonagall rose as students did. "Gather your colleagues, Gibbs," she said. "I'll show you all to your quarters."

Abby came sourly over to Gibbs without any summons. "Snape certainly gives a warm welcome back," she said insincerely.

"Professor Snape has quite a bit on his plate at the moment, Miss Scuito," McGonagall explained.

"That's no excuse!" Abby argued. "I always have a lot on my plate! Like, always! Do you know how stressful it is to manage all the forensic evidence of every case that comes through – "

"Have a brownie, Abbs," Gibbs said, grabbing one off the table and putting it into Abby's hand. Dumbledore had been so kind as to have the kitchens provide several of the team members' favorite foods.

Abby stuffed the brownie into her mouth as Tony, Ziva, McGee, and Ducky made their way over.

"Hi, Professor!" Tony greeted as though he hadn't seen the woman in two years. "Missed us?"

"I can't say I have," McGonagall answered bluntly. "However, with luck, you won't be as much of a thorn in my side as you were last time."

Tony gave an amused snort at the same time Umbridge walked past. The woman was sure to glare before she left the hall.

McGonagall smirked slightly at Umbridge's back before moving forward, NCIS behind her. Pointless small talk filled nearly all silence as the group made their way all the way to the seventh floor and quite out of the way of just about everything.

The deputy head of the school finally flung open the door of an abandoned classroom that had been converted into a bedroom. Six four poster beds were placed up against the walls, curtains half drawn around them. There was a fair amount of floor space and four doors in one of the walls.

McGonagall strode over and opened all the doors. Two were closets, two were bathrooms. "We're working on getting a second room for Agent David and Miss Scuito," she said, "but it's proving difficult at the moment. Apparently, this is 'all the room that can be spared' for you."

Gibbs found it rather hard to believe that, large as Hogwarts was, there was only one room that he and his team could have. It also seemed rather convenient that said room was as out of the way as could be from everything in the school.

"Professor Flitwick's office is closest, if you remember, and he has said he'll gladly help you if you find yourselves in need of anything," McGonagall said.

"I miss the Room of – " Tony began as he dragged his bags over to a bed.

McGonagall sharply cut Tony off with a glare.

"Don't do anything stupid," Gibbs told his colleagues as he walked out of the room. He waited for McGonagall to follow and closed the door after she went through it.

"Convenient place to stash us," Gibbs commented.

"With any luck we'll be able to manage getting Ziva and Abby a room closer to the main level," McGonagall said.

"No, they stay put," Gibbs said. "If anyone moves –"

"No one inside of Hogwarts is out to get you this time, Jeth – "

"That's not what I've been told the past – "

"Twelve hours," McGonagall said significantly.

"I hope airline records back that up," Gibbs growled.

"They will."

"Got Kingsley fixing that up, have – "

"Merlin's beard, Jethro! Have you really forgotten what we spoke about already? Are you slipping?" McGonagall asked.

Gibbs looked sideways at McGonagall. "Who's the older, more senile one here?"

"I'm not a day over thirty. I don't know what you're talking about," McGonagall said with her nose slightly upturned.

"If you're thirty I'm a toddler," Gibbs snorted. He suddenly looked confused as McGonagall took a right where he expected a left turn. "Why in the hell – "

"You're not in your office, Agent Gibbs. Perhaps you'd like to watch your mouth a little more closely?"

Gibbs gave McGonagall an unamused look. "Why in the _heck_ are you taking this way? This adds another minute and a half to your office."

"Have somewhere to be?" McGonagall asked smartly. Gibbs remained silent the rest of the way. She opened the door to her office, let Gibbs in first, and closed it. "The corridors aren't safe places to talk, and I took the way I did to avoid Dolores's office."

Gibbs took the seat across the desk and, making himself right at home, propped his feet up on the clean, polished surface. "Alright, what's the deal with Hagrid?" he asked, ignoring the teacher's explanation for her strange behavior.

McGonagall shoved Gibbs' feet off her desk before taking her spot behind it. "He and Sybill Trelawney are first in line to be sacked by Umbridge," she said moodily, opening a drawer.

"Umbridge has that power?" Gibbs asked.

McGonagall chose pulling out a metal container over answering. She tossed it across her desk to Gibbs. "Ginger Newts."

"You didn't make them, did you?" Gibbs asked as he pried open the container and pulled out a cookie.

"I'll have you know I'm a very capable cook, Jethro, even if I rarely exercise the skill."

Gibbs chomped off the head of the newt. "What's Umbridge got against Hagrid and Trelawney?"

"Hagrid's extremely loyal to Dumbledore – "

"So? You are too."

"Yes, but Hagrid's also half-giant," McGonagall said. "Dolores hates 'half-breeds', she always has. Back when Remus was in school she started quite a bit of anti-werewolf legislation. She's more than half the reason he can't ever get a job."

"And all the cuts and bruises you mentioned? Where's Hagrid getting them?" Gibbs asked.

"_That_ I told you the truth about. He hasn't told anyone, and they've gotten worse since he came back. I thought that - Do you know where he was?"

Gibbs nodded. "Up in the mountains racing Death Eaters to – "

McGonagall cut Gibbs off, having heard enough. "I thought that he got all his injuries in the mountains and they just hadn't healed yet, but…" She sighed. "He's extremely hard to talk sense into. I'm not sure if he even realizes how closely he's being watched."

"And Trelawney?"

"That one's a no brainer," McGonagall said with a slight snort. "Sybill's a fraud, everyone know it. She's only made –" McGonagall cut herself short. "She's not a qualified Divination teacher, not that _anyone_ could be."

Gibbs bit into another newt and put his feet back up. "You were saying? Before you stopped yourself?"

McGonagall shook her head. "_I_ shouldn't even know. Dumbledore's only let me in on it because of the _fragile_ situation we all find ourselves in."

"Here I thought you were his wing man."

"I am," McGonagall said proudly. "But certain things are best kept as quite as possible. Let's just say we can't afford to lose Sybill, incompetent though she may be."

"You know I'm going to figure it out eventually, right?" Gibbs asked, a laugh in his eyes.

"If and when you do, keep it to yourself. And get your damn feet off my desk!"

Gibbs obliged with an annoying smile. "You got anything to wash those cookies down with?" he asked as he tossed McGonagall the cookie tin back.

McGonagall stowed the cookies away in her desk and walked over to her bookshelf.

"What kinds of things, exactly, can I expect my team to be doing this time around?" Gibbs asked, brushing crumbs off himself onto the floor. "I expect you're not going to have us running around trying to find Death Eaters or Voldemort in Hogwarts."

McGonagall dropped the book she had been moving from its spot and wheeled around to face Gibbs. "You've been around Sirius too much!" she hissed. "Don't say that name, _especially_ not here!" She turned back to her shelf and pulled off a few more books before waving her wand to reveal a secret compartment from which she pulled a bottle and two glasses.

"Hiding alcohol in your office, Minerva?" Gibbs asked with amusement.

"After thirty nine years, I don't think anyone would blame me," McGonagall said dully, filling both glasses.

"I thought you weren't a day over thirty," Gibbs quipped.

"Charming," McGonagall replied sarcastically.

Gibbs raised his glass slightly. "To an uneventful visit," he said.

McGonagall made an odd sort of scoffing sound before taking a drink.

Gibbs threw some of the liquid into his own mouth. As his throat began to burn he looked into his glass curiously. "What the hell is this?"

"Firewhiskey," McGonagall answered.

"That explains it," Gibbs said, setting the glass on the polished surface of McGonagall's desk. The teacher waved her wand and a coaster appeared underneath Gibbs's drink.

"Too strong?" she asked with a smirk.

"Why wasn't Abby allowed back last year?" Gibbs asked.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "No one explained back in London?"

Gibbs understood "London" to mean Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. "All we know is that Diggory died at the end of some competition."

McGonagall looked greatly saddened by the mention of Cedric. "Yes, that's true. Last year Hogwarts hosted an international competition. The other two largest wizarding schools each brought representatives here and – Have you heard of the Triwizard Tournament?"

"Ziva's mentioned it. I thought it was disbanded?"

"It was," McGonagall said, a frown on her face. "If you ask me, it should have stayed that way. But Dumbledore will have what he wants, one way or another. He thought it'd be a good opportunity to have students make friends outside our own country. He already sensed You-Know-Who was gaining strength…"

"You never told me what exactly my team and I will be doing," Gibbs said after McGonagall trailed off, having heard enough explanation. "I know why we're really here, but isn't it going to be a bit difficult to pass off six assistant teachers? If I were Umbridge – "

"Don't put such nauseating ideas into my head, Jethro," McGonagall said. "You're enough trouble as it is."

" – I'd be tipped off to something going on by so many coming for such an easy job," Gibbs finished as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"McGee, Miss Sciuto, and Dr. Mallard will be working with Muggle Studies, mostly," McGonagall said. "When discussing how to keep you all here and looking as unsuspicious as possible, Bill Weasley suggested a sort of physical education extracurricular."

Gibbs merely looked at McGonagall strangely for a moment. "You want me, DiNozzo, and David to give your students a PE class? Do you know how rid– "

"Yes, I do. I didn't say I liked the idea! Don't think I don't remember seeing your 'workout' session last time you were here," McGonagall snapped. "I'm not particularly fond of the idea of students learning how to Muggle duel, and I'm less fond of them practicing."

Gibbs gave an amused scoff. "I thought all student organizations were banned. Somehow I don't think Umbridge is going to approve this idea."

"Your job isn't to worry about Dolores Umbridge," McGonagall said the name with a grimace.

"Yeah, yeah," Gibbs said exasperatedly. "I know. My job is to watch my team and get Vance here."

"And to _stay out of trouble_," McGonagall added. "You'd best avoid Umbridge whenever possible."

There was a knock at the door. McGonagall quickly shoved the bottle of Firewhiskey into her desk and twirled her wand through the air once more, vanishing hers and Gibbs's glasses, before rising and opening her door. "Dolores," she greeted coldly.

"Ah, Minerva," Umbridge said in her unpleasant voice. She looked around and noticed Gibbs. "And Mr. Gibbs too. Might I ask why you're not with your colleagues?"

"Catching up," Gibbs said nonchalantly. "Professor McGonagall and I were patrol partners last time my team and I were here."

"Yes, I remember," Umbridge said with a painful looking smile.

From behind Umbridge, McGonagall pointed to the open doorway. Gibbs rose from his seat.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Umbridge," Gibbs said. He offered his hand, but Umbridge only continued to smile at him. He gave an amused chuckle and seemed about to say something else when McGonagall interrupted him.

"I believe Professor Burbage said she intended on stopping by to meet you and your agents, Agent Gibbs," she said a bit louder than necessary.

"See you at breakfast," Gibbs said as he left. The door closed and he heard McGonagall and Umbridge begin to snap at each other.

Gibbs wound his way through the corridors by himself, taking a few detours simply to test himself.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Next chapter - Downward Spiral

Oh, Umbridge, Umbidche, Umbitch... how we all hate you. Please proceed to crawl into a deep, dark hole and stay there... forever.

I'm making cupcakes, but it seems I require four cups of reviews... I'm running a little low... ;)


	10. Downward Spiral

**TEN – Downward Spiral**

When Gibbs awoke the following morning, he was quite pleased to see a cup of steaming coffee on his nightstand. He took a sip before even setting his feet to the floor, then got up with mug in hand to prepare for the day.

"Morning, Ziva," he said as he passed his agent, who was already awake and engrossed in a newspaper article.

"Good morning," Ziva replied distractedly, her brows drawn together.

As Gibbs was brushing his teeth, Ziva opened the bathroom door unabashedly without knocking.

"You need to read this," she said gravely, holding out _The Daily Prophet_.

Gibbs spit before taking the paper from Ziva, then leaned against the counter to read. He got no further than the picture, or rather, pictures, on the front page before his eyes narrowed and his face reddened.

"You got this today?" Gibbs asked, finishing the article and tucking the paper under his arm.

"I was woken up by the house-elf dropping it off," Ziva stated.

"Good."

Gibbs changed quickly, told Ziva to wake everyone else up, and headed out with the intention of speaking with Dumbledore. However, he no longer knew the password to get into the headmaster's office, and so went to try McGonagall instead, but she was nowhere to be found. Growing angrier by the second, Gibbs stormed back up to his colleagues.

"Pack," he told the room at large.

"Gibbs," Abby objected, in day clothes, but lacking her usual make up, "we haven't even started anything yet!"

"Get all your things together," Gibbs ordered. "We're leaving as soon as I find Dumbledore."

"What happened, Boss?" McGee asked as he tied his shoes.

"A mass break out from Azkaban," Gibbs said unhappily.

McGee somehow managed to step on his fingers in his moment of shock. "What? How? That place is – "

"I don't know, McGee. Pack!" Gibbs barked once more, then checked his watch and left again, this time for the Great Hall.

Upon arriving, Gibbs discovered Dumbledore and McGonagall to be the only ones in the Hall, both sat at the head table with very worried expressions on their faces. Gibbs strode up to the table, holding the newspaper in front of him so the Hogwarts instructors could see the headline. "There something you want to tell me about?"

"You've got what you need in that article, Agent Gibbs," Dumbledore said patiently.

"We're leaving."

"I've told you already, Agent Gibbs, that I cannot allow you to leave in good conscience."

"I don't give a damn about your conscience! I care about getting my team away from this mess!"

"Stop _shouting_, Jethro!" McGonagall snapped. "This situation is bad enough without Dolores sticking her head in it, which she's bound to do if she hears you!"

"I'm afraid that Hogwarts is the safest place for your team to be, Agent Gibbs," Dumbledore said. "I can only guarantee your safety so long as you stay where myself and the Order can protect you. We certainly cannot help you if you return to Washington D.C."

"And yes, they will follow you there," McGonagall said before Gibbs could argue. "They'll stop at nothing to get rid of you. You know too much."

Gibbs leaned on the table for a moment before smacking it with _The Prophet_ and storming away in frustration. He suddenly found his way blocked by McGonagall, who had apparently risen from her seat and hurried to cut him off.

"Now I know you've got a temper, Jethro," she began.

"You're one to talk about tempers," Gibbs quipped.

"But that does not give you an excuse to turn your back on us when we're trying to help! Do you really think you're the only one in distress about this?" McGonagall continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "Act like an adult! Turn around and talk it out."

Professor Umbridge chose a most unfortunate time to enter the Great Hall. "Minerva," she said in her too-sweet voice. "Mr. Gibbs. Ah, and Professor Dumbledore, of course. What on earth could bring you all down to the Great Hall so early? The students won't be down for – "

"We could easily ask you the same question, Dolores," McGonagall tried not to snarl.

Gibbs took advantage of McGonagall's lack of freedom to chastise him and continued on his way out.

"Just where are you going, Mr. Gibbs, alone and with no escort?" Umbridge asked.

"To tell my team I've changed my mind," Gibbs called over his shoulder. As he did so, McGonagall's own seemed to relax.

"Rest assured, Dolores, that Agent Gibbs and his team have no need for escorts around the castle," Dumbledore said. "Now, how may we help you?"

"Oh, I was just going around for a bit of a walk," Umbridge said with an insincere smile. "I thought I might as well drop in to see what the fuss was about."

"No fuss," Dumbledore said pleasantly. "Agent Gibbs was merely double checking on what time we started serving breakfast."

"Is that so?" Umbridge queried.

* * *

><p>"Ready to go, Boss," Tony announced as soon as Gibbs walked through the door.<p>

"We're not going anywhere," Gibbs said unhappily.

Tony's eyebrows drew together and he looked as though he were about to object, but a look from Ducky stopped him.

"So what'd Dumbledore say about the escaped prisoners?" McGee asked delicately.

"Get going down to breakfast," Gibbs ordered. Tony, Ziva, McGee, and Abby all promptly abandoned the room. Ducky lingered behind.

"Alright, Jethro," Ducky said as he closed the door, then turned to face Gibbs. "Let's have it."

"Breakfast, Duck," Gibbs said. He made to open the door, but Ducky stood firm in his way.

"You cannot afford to bottle your emotions, Jethro, not with the likes of Umbridge roaming around with the intention of getting you to break," Ducky insisted.

Gibbs rolled his neck and looked anywhere but Ducky's face. "This is only the beginning, Duck," he said finally.

"Yes, it is," Ducky replied. "Now we know what we're up against, but we also know who we're fighting _with._ Now, more than ever, Jethro, we must work _with_ our friends from Hogwarts."

Gibbs was silent a moment more. "Umbridge won't ever go for six of us being split two ways. She'll know something's up."

"Most likely," Ducky conceded, allowing for a change of subject.

"When you go down to the Great Hall, tell McGonagall I'm in her classroom," Gibbs said, then left.

Gibbs sat in the back corner of McGonagall's classroom for a full ten minutes before its mistress entered.

"I hope you haven't called me away from my meal simply to yell at me," McGonagall said, arms crossed as she leaned on a desk near the one at which Gibbs sat.

"Figured you weren't eating, anyway," Gibbs reasoned.

"Realized I'm not in much of a state to eat, have you?"

"Umbridge isn't ever going to go for the six of us being split just two ways," Gibbs said.

"Umbridge isn't your concern, Jethro."

"I'm trying to _help_, Minerva."

"Well this is new," McGonagall said interestedly. "Continue."

"Foreign language classes," Gibbs said.

McGonagall drew her brows together. "You want to teach the students of Hogwarts a foreign language?"

"Three languages. Russian, Sign, and Spanish," Gibbs elaborated.

McGonagall considered, then lowered herself into an actual chair. "Give me something Albus and I can pitch to Fudge's minion."

"I am fluent in Russian, Ziva knows a bit. Tony, Ziva, and Abby all speak Spanish. Between Abby and I, we can teach Sign. Get the kids trying new things, - "

"Dolores is not interested in the children learning new things. She wishes them to learn as little as possible, Jethro!" McGonagall hissed.

"It opens up a plethora of doors for new communications, business deals, treaties, whatever the hell you want Umbridge to hear," Gibbs said irritably.

McGonagall considered. "Russian and Spanish I think we'll be able to get off on. I'm not sure about Sign Language. A deaf person is extraordinarily rare in our world."

"Then throw French in. Ziva'll take that, I'll take Russian, Tony's got Spanish, Abby can help," said Gibbs.

"That still leaves the problem of McGee, Abby, and Dr. Mallard all working with Charity. She's said herself she doesn't know what to do with all three of them," McGonagall said quietly, then quickly glanced at her door.

"You got kids looking to work in St. Mungo's, right?" Gibbs asked after a moment.

"Yes," McGonagall said slowly.

"Ducky can teach an Anatomy class, then. If Abby helps out with Spanish, that only leaves McGee working full time with Burbage. Problems solved."

McGonagall scoffed and rubbed her forehead. "That's only the beginning of the problems, Jethro. Now we'll have to find you classrooms, get student interest up… and we can only _start_ on that if, by some miracle, we get all these extra classes _approved_."

"Should have told you about this in your office," Gibbs said. "Could have made some of the anxiety go away with – "

McGonagall cut Gibbs off with a severe look. "I'm not in much of a mood for joking around Jethro."

"I wasn't joking, Minerva," Gibbs retorted. "Have you heard anything else about the break-out?"

"They aren't sending out dementors," McGonagall said with a sigh.

"That's goo – wait!" Gibbs stopped himself. "The Ministry had an armada of dementors here when Sirius got out. Now they've had _ten_ prisoners escape and they're not doing a damn thing?"

"I'm sure they'll do _something_," McGonagall said. "I'm also sure I'd prefer the dementors to whatever it is they're planning presently."

"You holding up okay with all this?" Gibbs asked, quite shocking McGonagall.

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs showing concern for my well being? The world really has turned upside down!"

"Just because I yell doesn't mean I don't care," Gibbs explained.

"To answer your question, I am far from 'okay' with everything that's happening, but I'll save spewing my feelings about it until later in the safety of Albus's office," McGonagall said in a business-like manner, then rose and began writing on her black board.

"Read about LeStrange," Gibbs said. "How's Neville taking it?"

McGonagall accidentally snapped the chalk in her hand. "Neville's off to see Pomona for his first class. She'll keep an eye on him," she said, tapping the chalk with her wand before continuing on with her notes.

"What's Molly Weasley's maiden name?" Gibbs asked, crossing his arms.

"Prewett," McGonagall supplied unwillingly.

"She's got to be thrilled to have her brothers' murderer out and about."

"What do you want, Jethro?" McGonagall asked harshly, finally turning back around to face him.

Before Gibbs could reply, Flitwick burst into the room. "Minerva!" he squeaked. "Have you heard?"

McGonagall raised an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip. "You were at breakfast, Filius, you know I – "

"Not that," Flitwick said, "awful as that may be. No, no, no, no! Hagrid!"

McGonagall's nostrils flared. "What about Hagrid?"

"He's officially on probation!" Flitwick exclaimed.

McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose and shut her eyes. "Thank you for telling me, Filius."

"You need to start getting ready, Minerva," Flitwick said quietly. "She'll be out for Sybill next, and after Sybill…"

"Yes, yes, I know! Now I've got a class, Filius!"

Flitwick looked at his pocket watch, yelped, and hurried away.

"You on Umbridge's list after Trelawney?" Gibbs asked.

"No," McGonagall said shortly. "Albus is."

Just as Gibbs opened his mouth, Ginny Weasley entered the room with a blonde girl in Ravenclaw robes. He rose and left without another word.

* * *

><p>"Gibbs."<p>

Gibbs rolled over in his bed, rubbed his eyes, and then looked up at Ziva's face. "What the hell are you doing up already, Ziva?"

"That house-elf keeps waking me up!" Ziva said irritably. "I have something you should look at."

Very much fearing another dreadful article from _The Prophet_, Gibbs hoisted himself into an upright position, then swung his feet onto the floor. Ziva then offered him a single piece of paper, which he snatched and looked at quickly.

"'By order of the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts,'" Ziva quoted in an impressive, yet mocking voice, "'Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach.' I am willing to bet Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six will come back to bite Umbridge in the butt."

Gibbs chuckled. "Yeah, it probably will," he set the Decree aside, "but she can't have the Hogwarts professors telling the students how they think ten prisoners got out of Azkaban, can she?"

"What does it matter? The students will just theorize with each other."

"Umbridge doesn't think any of the students know what's going on behind the scenes between the staff and the Ministry," Gibbs said. "She doesn't think any of their theories will come close to the truth."

"Why don't I just kill her?" Ziva suggested. "I can make it quick and not leave a single trace of evidence behind. Everyone will think she died in her sleep."

"She'd only be replaced by someone nastier," Gibbs said as he put on a pair of socks.

"I don't think there is anyone nastier," Ziva argued.

"She works in politics, Ziva," Gibbs pointed out. "There's always someone nastier."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Next chapter: New Mission: Teach (subject to change)

I wonder... since Umbridge always sticks her nose where it doesn't belong, would cutting off her nose fix the problem?

Betcha leaving a review would make Umbridge angry... ;)


	11. New Mission: Teach

**New Mission: Teach**

"Filius," Ziva greeted happily, opening the door to the NCIS quarters on Wednesday after breakfast. "What a pleasant surprise. You do not have a class now?"

"No, I do not," Flitwick answered with a smile. "Dumbledore's asked me to show you lot your new classrooms."

"Whoah, whoah, whoah!" Tony exclaimed, popping off his bed and joining Ziva at the door. "Dumbledore got the classes approved already? I thought he'd have to hash it out with Umbridge for at least a week!"

"We thought so too, Agent DiNozzo," Flitwick admitted, "but Albus put his foot down. Shall we?" he asked, gesturing to the hallway.

"Ah," Ziva objected. "Gibbs is – "

"Right here," Gibbs said, walking up the hallway. "Professor Flitwick," he greeted. "How can we help?"

"I'm here to show you your classrooms," Flitwick answered.

Gibbs's eyebrows drew together. "How'd you know the classes got approved? I just came from the meeting with Dumbledore and Umbridge – "

"The staff has its way of communicating, Agent Gibbs," Flitwick said good naturedly. "Come along!"

"Ducky, McGee, and Abby are in with Professor Burbage," Gibbs objected. "Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"I don't think so, Agent Gibbs," Flitwick said. "We _really_ ought to get you settled as quickly as possible."

"I'm game," Tony said, throwing on his jacket. "I want to start showing these kids who's boss."

"Dumbledore's going to make the announcement of the classes at lunch," Flitwick said as he led Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva through the halls. "If you could be in the rooms I'm showing you tonight and tomorrow night, you can count how many students are interested. We'll get any supplies over the weekend and you can start Monday."

"This is going _very_ fast," Ziva said uncertainly.

"That's the way it must be, Ziva," Flitwick said with a small sigh, then opened a door with the flick of his wand. "Agent DiNozzo, this is you."

Tony walked into his classroom and nodded as he looked around. "Not bad," he said. "Not bad at all." The room was a cozy size and had a very earthy feel to it. There were no windows, but the dancing flames on the torches hanging from the walls would provide plenty of entertainment for bored students.

"Meet you down in the Great Hall for lunch, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, then closed the door and continued on with Ziva and Flitwick.

Flitwick next revealed a rather open room with so many windows torches need not be lit during the day. "This room gets rather cold during the winter," Flitwick said, gesturing to large fireplaces in the front and the back of the room. "It's got a fantastic view of the grounds, though."

"This room is mine, yes?" Ziva said hopefully.

"It is," Flitwick confirmed.

Ziva smiled and looked around the room again before beginning to grab desks and rearrange them. "Rows or groups?" she asked.

"Groups cause a lot of chatter," Gibbs answered.

"Hmmm," Ziva said thoughtfully, suddenly stopping and looking very thoughtfully at the desks before her.

Flitwick set both fireplaces ablaze, then he and Gibbs left Ziva to her own devices.

"Umbridge won't be pleased about how quickly this is moving," Gibbs said as he and Flitwick made their way down a flight of stairs.

"You've been to all the meetings," Flitwick said. "You've got a better idea of her mood than I do."

"But I can't predict her reaction as well as you can," Gibbs said.

"Well don't expect a cake walk, Agent Gibbs," Flitwick said.

"I don't. Not in the least. I'd say she's about at her wit's end."

"Then expect to be at the end of your own wit very soon," Flitwick advised.

"Great," Gibbs said sarcastically. "Has there been any more news about the Azkaban escapees?"

"Not a thing," Flitwick said in an uncharacteristically harsh voice. "You might try asking Minerva when you see her," he added significantly.

Gibbs thought of Kingsley and Tonks working in the Auror department, then nodded. "I'll do that."

"Here we are, Agent Gibbs," Flitwick said, opening the door to a plain, standard classroom. "I've got to warn you that the bookshelf over there opens into a secret passageway. No doubt students will attempt to use it for whatever immature purposes they please."

Gibbs opened the bookshelf and looked down the dark, narrow hallway. "I don't mind it," he said. "I'll put some bells on the top there, stop kids from sneaking in or out."

"It might not only be used by students," Flitwick said significantly.

Gibbs's eyebrows shot up. "She'll sink that low, will she?"

"I wouldn't put anything past her. Keep on your toes," Flitwick advised.

"Do you have time to show me where Ducky will be?"

"I do not," Flitwick said. "I've got a class starting in just a few minutes, actually. I believe Pomona's going to be fetching Dr. Mallard to show him his classroom. McGee and Miss Scuito should still be with Professor Burbage this next block. Now, I really must be off!" Flitwick disappeared through the bookshelf secret passageway, leaving Gibbs alone in his new classroom.

"Oh, how you owe me, Minerva," Gibbs said to himself as he tried to pry open his very rough wooden desk.

* * *

><p>Gibbs entered the Great Hall for lunch to find Umbridge seething in her seat on the far left, glaring at him as though she wished he would explode into a million miniscule pieces. He ignored her and sat by McGonagall. "We've been here three days and she already wants to kill me."<p>

"She's hated you far longer than three days, Jethro," McGonagall said indifferently. "How do you like your classroom?"

"It's pretty nice," Gibbs admitted. "That desk needs a lot of work, though."

"I figured fixing it might keep you out of a bit of trouble," McGonagall said.

"I have nothing to fix it with, Minerva."

"That issue will be smoothed over the weekend. You can order what you'll need for it when you order whatever teaching supplies you'll require."

"Where is the money for all this stuff coming from?" Gibbs asked.

"Never you mind," McGonagall answered. "And don't ask it again."

"Sirius," Gibbs said lowly.

McGonagall very nearly dropped her fork.

"He's loaded. Tell me it's not – "

"If I tell you it is him, will you drop the matter?" McGonagall hissed.

"Where are you telling Umbridge the money's coming – "

"From leftover department budgets," McGonagall snapped. "Now _shut up!_"

"Better find a place to hide that extra budget money, then."

"Don't be ridiculous," McGonagall scoffed. "All of us except Dolores used all the money from our budgets. Now if you don't shut up I'm going to – "

"Alright, alright," Gibbs conceded. "I'll let it go."

"Thank you," McGonagall said, thoroughly relieved.

"How are classes?" Gibbs asked civilly.

Before McGonagall could answer, Dumbledore stood up, demanding the attention of all students without yet saying a single word.

"I hope you've all settled back comfortably into the monotony of school work," Dumbledore said kindly. Many students exchanged unpleasant looks with each other. "I am very pleased to announce that, starting Monday, we will have four new areas of study available to you, courtesy of our friends from NCIS. For more information, please check your common room notice boards. Carry on!"

As Dumbledore sat down, a few students from every table got up and left the Hall. Minutes later, Gibbs witnessed Lee Jordan sit back down at the Gryffindor table with a single piece of paper. With the wave of his wand, however, he made an entire stack and passed them out to whoever asked.

"Looks like a success so far," Gibbs commented.

"Indeed it does," McGonagall said, the corners of her mouth twitching.

On a gut impulse, Gibbs leaned forward to look down the table at Umbridge. Her face had turned red and she breathed heavily in an effort to control herself. A moment later, she rose from the table and walked away quickly.

"You hate her," Gibbs said. "You really, truly hate her."

"While she's done nothing but ask for it, I do not hate her," McGonagall said loftily. "I simply wish her to fall off the Astronomy tower."

* * *

><p>"Foreign languages, mate," said Fred appreciatively.<p>

"Bet you ten galleons Umbridge doesn't know a lick of Russian," George added.

"We all know she's stupid," Ron snorted.

"She's not stupid, Ron," Hermione said irritably, "or she'd never have been able to figure out half the things she has. I _wish_ she was stupid."

"Hasn't found us yet, has she?" Ron bit back.

"What's your point, Fred, George?" Harry asked, ignoring Ron and Hermione.

"Wouldn't it be nice to give each other bits and pieces of information without having to be sneaky about it?" Fred suggested.

"The best place to hide something is right in the open," George continued. "No one ever looks there."

"Are you suggesting we get _everyone_ to take the same foreign language?" Hermione asked. "That'd draw _way_ too much attention!"

"Everyone that's not in Slytherin is going to try _one_ of these classes, Hermione," Fred argued. "It can just be a marvelous coincidence that everyone from the D.A. happened to take the same one."

"No, Hermione's right," Harry said. "We can't draw too much attention to ourselves. Umbridge is breathing down our necks enough as it is."

"We'd also have to drag half the girls in the D.A. away from Agent DiNozzo's class," Hermione said, beginning to cut up the meat on her plate. When no one replied to her comment, she looked up to see Harry, Ron, Fred, and George all looking at her confusedly. "Oh, honestly!" she sighed. "Can't you tell he's attractive?"

"We don't swing that way, Hermione," George said warily.

"What do you mean, he's attractive?" Ron asked.

"Come to think of it, Lee's been talking about Agent David quite a bit," Fred said. "Haven't had the heart to tell him she'd probably kill him with her pinky if she found out what he's been saying."

"So it's settled," Harry said. "We can't have everyone take the same language. Some people won't even take a language. They'll study with Dr. Mallard."

"I think I might prefer Binns to Mallard," George said dully.

"Don't be mean, Fred! I'm sure Dr. Mallard's plenty interesting," said Hermione.

"Don't tell me Mallard's got girls after him!" Fred said with a snort.

"What do you mean, DiNozzo's _attractive?_" Ron asked Hermione again.

"Come on, Hermione," said George. "Didn't you _hear _any of his stories? I almost fell asleep during them, and I was pranking To – "

Hermione cut George off with a glare that would make McGonagall proud.

"Well, they're boring," George said.

"If those are his stories I don't even want to think about his lectures," said Fred with a grimace.

"Well I think Anatomy's fascinating and I'm sure whoever takes that class will agree," Hermione said with a huff.

"Well, I'm going for Russian," George announced. "I'd be willing to bet Umbridge knows some amount of French or Spanish, enough to be able to figure out what's going on in a conversation."

"They're too risky," Fred agreed.

"I think French is a lovely language," said Luna dreamily, dropping herself between George and Ron.

"Is that what you're going for, Luna?" Hermione asked kindly.

"Oh yes!" Luna replied with a smile.

"_What do you mean, DiNozzo's attractive?_"

* * *

><p>Ziva sat at her very own desk after dinner, admiring her classroom. Gibbs had had to drag her out of it for meals, but it was set as she wanted and she had figured out what she needed to order. The desks were positioned in an open rectangle. The chalk board was spotless at the front of the room. The bookshelves had been properly cleaned and dusted, a task Ziva had come to believe hadn't been done in half a century.<p>

Hermione, Ginny, and Luna entered the classroom. "Hello, Agent David," Hermione said pleasantly. "Or is it Professor David now?" she asked with a smile.

"Agent still," Ziva answered, returning Hermione's smile. "Will I be seeing you all in here regularly?"

"Hermione and Ginny are taking Russian," Luna supplied.

"That will be very challenging," Ziva cautioned. "Agent Gibbs won't accept any slacking."

"Challenging is what I'm looking for," Hermione said proudly.

"And why won't I be seeing you, Miss Weasley?" Ziva asked.

"My brothers are going for Russian," Ginny answered. "I can't let them have secret conversations right in front of me."

"Fair enough," Ziva replied. "I look forward to seeing you, at least, Miss Lovegood."

"Ah, Miss David," said an unpleasantly sweet voice. "I've been trying to catch you all day!"

Ziva glanced sideways at the three students to see even Luna's shoulders had tensed. "I have been in here all day, Professor Umbridge."

"I've heard a rather interesting bit of information. I'd rather like to discuss it with you."

"Very well," Ziva said. "I'll see you in class, Miss Lovegood. You three may – "

"I'd like Miss Weasley to remain here, as well," Umbridge said, looking at the girl and trying to smile.

Ginny's face began to turn the shade of her hair as she stared back at Umbridge.

"We'll be right outside waiting for you, Ginny," Hermione said. She grabbed Luna and the two left.

"There we are," Umbridge said. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

"Alright," Ziva said. While Umbridge was distracted with conjuring a chair, Ziva looked at Ginny and mouthed very clearly, "_Do not say anything!"_

Ginny crossed her arms and looked thoroughly unhappy, but nodded all the same.

"I've been very perturbed by something I was told earlier today, Miss David," Umbridge said.

"Have you been, Professor Umbridge?" Ziva asked. "What did you hear?"

"I heard that two years ago you came across Sirius Black in the Forbidden Forest," Umbridge said.

"I did," Ziva answered unabashedly.

"And you then proceeded to proclaim him innocent?" Umbridge asked sweetly, looking at Ziva as though she were to be pitied for insanity.

"Yes, I did," Ziva repeated.

"Do you still believe him innocent?"

"What I believe does not matter," Ziva said smoothly. "I have no say in what happens to him if or when the Ministry finally manages to catch him."

Umbridge's smile faltered slightly. "That does not answer my question, Miss – "

"Agent!" Ziva burst. She quickly reigned her self control back in. "I go by _Agent_ David, Professor."

"You did not answer my question," Umbridge insisted, replastering the smile onto her face. "Do you or do you not believe Sirius Black to be innocent?"

"I believe he had plenty of opportunity to kill me in the Forest, and he chose not to," Ziva said, choosing her words very carefully.

"Did you see Black in the Forest, Miss Weasley?" Umbridge asked, turning to face Ginny.

"Excuse me, Professor Umbridge," Ziva said, trying not to look as though she were giddy with excitement to make her point, "but Sirius Black is not 'strictly related' to the subject you are paid to teach. Under Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six, you cannot speak to Miss Weasley about him."

"Miss David, I am High Inquisitor – "

"Which is why it only makes sense that you follow your rules to the absolute letter," Ziva said, imitating Umbridge's false smile to perfection. "Miss Weasley, you may go!"

Looking absolutely thrilled, Ginny left the room.

Umbridge abruptly changed the subject, though she no longer attempted a smile. "Are you aware, Miss David, that ten prisoners escaped from Azkaban on Monday?"

"I am," Ziva said. She barely managed not to say she wasn't sure if the Ministry was aware.

"Are you also aware that the only other person ever to break out of Azkaban is – "

"Sirius Black," Ziva said. "Yes, I am."

"And you don't think it strange that –"

"I think it a coincidence," Ziva said stiffly.

"What a remarkable coincidence, considering one of the escapees is Black's cousin."

"Agreed. What a remarkable coincidence. Perhaps you should be looking more for Mrs. LeStrange than her cousin, as he seems to have dropped off the map and has caused no trouble. No trouble, unless, that is, you believe Dumbledore and think that the Dark Lord is rising up once again. That could be the only possible reason to focus on Black instead of the newest escapees."

The toad-like qualities of Umbridge's face made themselves more evident. "So you think it impossible that the only man ever to break out of Azkaban had no hand in breaking out his old comrades and family members?"

"I think you are unable to see past the edge of your own nose," Ziva snapped.

Before Umbridge could make a reply to Ziva, Professor McGonagall entered the room.

"Professor Umbridge," McGonagall said, "Agent David is supposed to be seeing students. Might I suggest finding another time to talk with her?"

"I believe I've gotten all the information I want," Umbridge said, then rose from her seat and left, a small smile playing on her face.

Ziva looked out her windows at the stars.

"What was she after?" McGonagall asked quietly after closing the door.

"Sirius," Ziva replied, still not looking at McGonagall. "She wanted to know if I still thought him innocent."

McGonagall's eyes widened dramatically. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her he had plenty of opportunity to kill me and didn't, that I thought it a 'coincidence' his cousin broke out of Azkaban, and that she couldn't see – "

"I heard that last part," McGonagall said exasperatedly. "Ziva, why did you do that? Next time she tries to talk to you tell her you're busy! Wait until someone else is with you, preferably myself, Dumbledore, or Severus."

"Next time she tries to catch me on my own I will let her, and then I will kill her and make it look like an accident," Ziva snarled.

"Don't go getting yourself into even more trouble, Agent David," McGonagall said, then left in a hurry.

Ziva forced a smile onto her face as a group of third years entered her room.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Next Chapter: ...yeah, that doesn't have a name yet. Sorry. Preview: A classic argument featuring none other that Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Minerva McGonagall, and then... oh, the horror! No, I really shouldn't say... :)

Um... so I may update once more, but then this story will be on haitus for a bit. For those of you who don't know, I'm writing another story that follows the Hogwarts professors through Harry's seven years. I'm on the fourth book. It's hard to juggle the fourth and fifth books together, so I'll put this story on hold until I'm on the fifth book for my other story. Sorry, but I want to give you good quality stuff, which requires me reading as I write!

WHEW! Long note! Review!


	12. Rules

**Guidelines**

"I'm telling you, Jethro! You have to keep an eye on Ziva!" McGonagall insisted as she and Gibbs wound through the hallways after curfew, McGonagall checking random rooms and passages for rule breakers. "She'll have Dolores breathing down her neck if she keeps arguing with her!"

"Ziva can handle herself, Minerva," Gibbs said without worry.

"We're on a short enough leash as it is, Jethro! We don't need any of you making it any shorter!"

"Look, we're not getting paid, are we?" Gibbs asked.

"No," McGonagall admitted, looking at Gibbs suspiciously.

"Then none of the rules that apply to the staff apply to us, and vice versa. She'll have to make a whole new set of rules for us, and you won't have to follow them," Gibbs reasoned.

"Believe me when I tell you that you don't want her making rules for you," McGonagall said, then flung open a secret passageway. "Smith! Jacobs! Back to your common rooms, fifteen points from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw!"

Two students scrambled to pick up their things before dashing their separate ways.

"Ziva will figure out how to deal with her. We all will," Gibbs said.

"That's what I thought back in September," McGonagall said, "and I'll be damned if I can find one instance in which she's made sense to anyone, much less to me."

"You're not in your office, Minerva," Gibbs said snidely. "Perhaps you'd like to watch your mouth a little bit closer."

"Don't push me, Jethro. I can fire three spells before you even take the safety off your gun."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Not yet."

"Any theories on the Azkaban break out?" Gibbs asked.

McGonagall sighed. "We're down to one, and it's not good."

"Care to share?"

McGonagall looked quickly over her shoulder, then around the corner before answering. "The dementors have allied themselves to You-Know-Who," she said quietly.

Gibbs's eyebrows pulled into a frown. "So he can get anyone he wants back?"

"He already _did_ get everyone he wants back!" McGonagall snapped. "That's the problem! Those that broke out did some of the cruelest, nastiest things! LeStrange, for example – poor baby Neville was still in the house while his parents were having the sanity tortured out of them!"

"That's _Bellatrix _LeStrange, right? Not Rudolphus?"

"Rudolphus was there, but I'm sure Bellatrix did most of the work. She's far more evil than Rudolphus."

Finally, McGonagall led Gibbs into her office and closed the door.

"Got anymore of those Ginger Newts?" Gibbs asked, settling himself into the chair across McGonagall's desk.

"My cooking's not so terrible after all, is it?" McGonagall asked haughtily. She produced the cookie tin and handed it off to Gibbs.

"I read the rest of that paper," Gibbs said, "from Monday."

"Did you?" McGonagall asked absentmindedly, looking at a note on her desk left by Sprout.

"Why didn't you tell me about Broderick Bode?" Gibbs asked casually.

McGonagall's eyes snapped onto Gibbs. "Why do you ask about Bode?"

"Seems kind of suspicious that he had Devil's Snare at his bedside," Gibbs said, his calm aura beginning to slip. "Almost like someone was trying to kill him."

"That's quite the theory, Jethro."

"Cut the crap, Minerva," Gibbs said impatiently.

"I'm agreeing with you," McGonagall said waspishly. "That _is_ quite the theory. Now, if you're asking to hear the rest of it – "

"I am!"

"Then you should have said so rather than snapping at me!"

McGonagall and Gibbs both glared at each other, then the former sighed.

"Bode worked in the Department of Mysteries. A few months ago he tried to take a prophecy and he lost his marbles. He's been in St. Mungo's ever since."

"He's not with the Order?" Gibbs asked.

McGonagall shook her head. "He was almost to the point where Dumbledore would have been able to see him to figure things out, and then…"

Gibbs considered as McGonagall trailed off. "Do you have any idea what prophecy he was after?"

"We've got an educated guess," McGonagall said heavily. "We sincerely doubt Bode acted of his own accord. He was highly esteemed in his department, and he would have had to have known what would happen to him if he tried to grab a prophecy that wasn't his."

"Imperius," Gibbs said.

"Imperius," McGonagall repeated.

"_Why didn't you tell me?_"

"We're still working things out from this end, Jethro. Pardon us for not throwing every theory we've got at you!"

"My team's good at puzzles," Gibbs said. "Hell, they're the best. You _want_ us helping you with your theories!"

"Jethro, I'm going to say something and I need you to listen closely," McGonagall said. She made sure she had eye contact, then said clearly, "You do not want to be any more involved than you are now."

"Okay," Gibbs said, throwing the cookie tin onto the desk and leaning forward to set his elbows on his knees. "Here's the thing, Minerva. We're already involved. This isn't something you have one foot in on and one foot out of. We're all in, and I'd appreciate you treating us as such."

McGonagall suddenly smiled, relaxed, and leaned back in her chair.

"What?" Gibbs asked warily.

"You're learning self control, Jethro!"

"You're kidding. That was all a _test?_"

"A rather marvelous ploy, if I must say so myself," McGonagall said.

Gibbs's eyes narrowed, but he must have been incapable of voicing his thoughts, because he stood and strode out of the room without another word.

McGonagall waited a moment, then left her office for Dumbledore's.

* * *

><p>By some strange miracle, the NCIS team remained undisturbed by Umbridge all the way through January and well into February. The team had settled well into the routine of Hogwarts and was as much a part of the staff as anyone, socializing pleasantly at lunch and complaining over coffee in the staffroom.<p>

Gibbs started with nearly forty students taking Russian, in addition to their other classes, twice a week. Within three weeks he had twenty, and half way through February he was down to twelve: the four Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, four Ravenclaws, and two Hufflepuffs.

The number of students Ziva and Tony dealt with took severe nose dives as well, though not quite so much as Gibbs's. Each of the former were just below half the students they had started with.

Ducky lost only one student, but had started with just ten, all of which were older and set on becoming healers.

"Think you'll all be coming out to Hogsmeade with us again, Agent Gibbs?" Fred asked as he and his classmates packed their bags after class on Friday night. "I doubt there'll be anyone painting with blood on the Hog's Head this time."

"We haven't decided yet, Fred," Gibbs answered. "Let me tell you now that you don't want to bring any Zonko's products into this classroom."

"We wouldn't dream of doing such a thing, Agent!" George said.

"Yeah, believe it or not, we really don't enjoy doing pushups," Fred supplied.

Gibbs smiled slightly. Since he was not technically a member of the Hogwarts staff, he could not dock points from houses, so he'd become creative in discipline. The twelve students remaining in Russian were quite in shape from all the pushups, sit ups, jumping jacks, and flutter kicks they had to do as a class whenever someone forgot homework or mouthed off. Even Fred and George had learned very quickly not to mess around with Gibbs.

"I think you ought to stay away from Zonko's entirely," Hermione said loftily, shoving her Russian book into her bag.

"Hi, Hermione, I'm George Weasley," said George, extending his hand. "This is my brother Fred. Apparently, you haven't met us before."

"Fine," Hermione said moodily. "Go to Zonko's, buy whatever you want, use whatever you want, but on your own head be it!"

Fred whipped a ridiculous looking hat out of his bag and shoved it onto his head, which then disappeared. "What head, Hermione?"

"Oh, _honestly!_" Hermione exclaimed, then hurried out of the room.

"That's pretty clever, boys," Gibbs said, taking the hat off Fred's head. "You should stop using it to annoy Hermione, though."

"Headless Hats," Fred said.

"We'll give you a discount on it. Two galleons, absolute bargain price!" George offered.

Gibbs tossed the hat down on the desk to his side. "Go on, back to your common rooms."

"Are _you_ ready for Hogsmeade, Harry?" Fred asked, nudging Harry with his elbow.

"Yeah, where you going?" George inquired.

"None of your business," Harry answered.

"Come on, Ron," Fred spurred on, turning to his brother. "Where's Harry taking Cho?"

"Oh, leave them alone," Ginny snapped. "Just because you don't have dates doesn't mean you have to bother everyone else about theirs."

Fred and George exchanged a look, then quickly got on their sister's heels as she exited the classroom.

"And who are _you_ going with, Ginny, dear?" Fred asked.

"Harry, Ron, let's go," Gibbs ordered, as the pair lingered behind in the room.

"Agent Gibbs, have you ever been interviewed for a newspaper?" Harry asked.

Gibbs looked at Harry with slightly raised brows. "I usually let the director of NCIS deal with the press. Why?"

"Never mind," Harry said quickly, then left with Ron.

Gibbs locked up his classroom, then moved on to Ziva's, where he found her working personally with Neville.

"Close," Ziva said, looking at a sentence Neville had written. "Look at the verb again."

"It's no use, Agent David," Neville said, standing and slinging his bag over his shoulder. "I should just quit."

"You are doing very well, Neville," Ziva objected. "I do not think you should quit."

"I don't have enough time for French," Neville continued. "I'm trying to do too much."

"You are not allowed to drop French, Neville," Ziva said firmly. "I will see you in here on Tuesday."

Neville left with taunt lips.

"There is something going on with the students," Ziva said slowly to Gibbs. "Something big and very sensitive…"

"I've noticed," Gibbs agreed. "Whatever it is, it's not our problem."

Tony burst into the classroom, slammed the door behind him, and bolted the lock. "A pair of fourth year girls… they're starting to scare me," he said in explanation.

"I'm sure when one of the Hogwarts professors notice your problem it will end very quickly, Tony," Ziva said with an amused smile.

"I swear they're following me," Tony said, straightening his jacket. "I went to the library yesterday and they walked in thirty seconds after me!"

"Perhaps they were just going to the library," Ziva suggested.

"And hiding in the row next to mine?" Tony asked.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said, demanding Tony's undivided attention, "where's Abby?"

"She's been helping McGee with something all day, boss. She wasn't with me for class," Tony answered promptly.

"Oh, how nice to find so many of you in one place," said the horribly familiar voice of Dolores Umbridge.

All three agents tensed, then turned to face Umbridge standing in the doorway. "Can we help you, Professor?" Gibbs asked.

"I thought I locked that door," Tony said very quietly to Ziva.

"You did," Ziva answered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Well, Agent Gibbs," said Umbridge, "I've been thinking a rather lot about how incredibly unsafe the magical world is for you."

"We feel perfectly safe, Professor," Gibbs said, a sense of foreboding growing.

"Which only shows how little you know," Umbridge said, pity evident.

"We'll be sure to watch our step, Professor, if it puts your mind at ease," Gibbs said, his eyes beginning to narrow.

"I'm sure you will, Agent Gibbs, but perhaps some guidance will be of use to you."

"Oh God," Tony breathed. "Don't do it. Don't – damn!"

Umbridge pulled out a scroll of parchment from her bag and handed it to Gibbs. "All in the name of your protection, Agent Gibbs! I would suggest sticking to that advice _very_ closely." Umbridge flashed one more horrible smile, then left.

Gibbs unfurled the roll, which turned out to be deceivingly long, and leaned against a desk. "Sirius and Snape were right," he said after a moment.

"What are our 'guidelines,' Boss?" Tony asked.

"Don't leave castle, curfew, communication restrictions," Gibbs began listing off.

Ziva pounded her fist onto a desk. "She cannot do this!" she raged. "We do not work for Hogwarts! We are not English! We are not wizards and witches!"

"Evidently, she can do it, Ziva," Tony pointed out.

"Well," Ziva huffed, "she cannot get rid of us. She will simply have to deal with us. Gibbs, may I borrow those?"

"As long as you're not going to throw them into a fire," Gibbs said resignedly, handing the scroll over to Ziva.

"No," Ziva said. "I'm going to have Filius make a copy of them, then I am going to the library."

"Be back in our room by ten," Gibbs called after her.

"We're not really going to just fold, are we?" Tony asked his boss.

"Right now, we're going to figure out our next move, DiNozzo," Gibbs sighed. "You go get McGee, Abby, and Ducky. I'll meet you after I talk to Dumbledore and McGonagall."

Tony departed and Gibbs started the way to Dumbledore's office, but the familiar voice of McGonagall stopped him.

"Albus isn't here, Jethro," she said from down the hall.

Gibbs turned around to face McGonagall, who was at the top of a staircase with her arms crossed. "Where the hell is he?"

"Attempting to talk sense into Cornelius," McGonagall answered. "Seeing as that hasn't gone over well for the past several months, I doubt it'll do any good now."

"So you know about the 'advice' Umbridge has given us?"

McGonagall walked past Gibbs, who followed, and led the way to Dumbledore's office, then opened it and strode in. "Yes, we know," she said. "Of course we know! She's given us a copy in hopes we'll help enforce them."

"So what now?" Gibbs asked, pacing.

"Have you had any communication with Director Vance?" McGonagall asked.

"Not much," Gibbs answered. "He's been kept busy by our office in Los Angeles, and getting to him isn't any simpler now."

"Simpler than you think," McGonagall said.

"How?" Gibbs asked irritably. "We've got to go through a whole obstacle course now just to send out an owl!"

"Owls are not the only means of communication we have available, Jethro," McGonagall calmly argued. She turned to one of the many portraits feigning sleep on the wall. "Phineas!" she called.

"What?" asked a painting rudely, making it abundantly clear he did not like being disturbed.

"Kindly go ask Sirius to write to Director Leon Vance of NCIS to tell him that communication issues have arisen at Hogwarts. Director Vance will now communicate with his agents via Sirius, and do make sure he knows to present himself professionally in his writing," McGonagall requested.

Phineas left his frame muttering.

"So what happens when Vance finally comes out here? We've been 'advised' not to leave the castle and if he comes here he'll get sucked into Umbridge's rules," Gibbs said.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," McGonagall said. "What you must now keep in mind, Jethro, is that Umbridge definitely sees you as a threat, and trust me when I tell you that is _not_ a good thing."

"She's seen us as a threat ever since we got – "

"And now she's acted on it! You've become an even greater threat to her because you're starting to haul some weight in this world! She expected you to come here and fail miserably, but you've flourished, and she can't stand it."

"So what? We just follow her rules and keep our heads down?" Gibbs asked.

"For now, yes!"

"Ziva's already gone to the library."

"If you find loopholes, and I'm sure there are plenty, don't use them until you have to. If she sees those loopholes, she'll close them and then you'll _definitely _be stuck."

"We already are stuck!" Gibbs argued, and then left to meet his colleagues.

"What'll it be, Boss?" McGee asked. "Wings or shackles?"

"Follow the rules," Gibbs said dismally.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

****Officially on hiatus, therefore I will not tease you with the next chapter title nor will I give you a summary type thing.

I look forward to reading all your lovely reviews on this chapter and will miss them dearly until the next installment.


	13. Shop 'til You Drop

**Shop 'til You Drop**

"Muggle Decree Five states our curfew is ten," McGee read aloud. He, Tony, Ziva, and Abby had elected to remain behind in the room while Ducky and Gibbs went to breakfast.

"That's easy enough to get around," Abby stated. "Secret passageways. I know for a fact Umbridge doesn't know very many. She walks past them all the time."

"Maybe she just doesn't need to use whatever passage she's passing, Abby," Tony pointed out.

"No, she doesn't know they are there," Ziva argued. "I have followed her."

"Ziva!" McGee burst.

"What? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Ziva defended herself.

"All the more to our advantage," Tony said. "Ziva, keep following her if you can. Try to take note of what passages she knows. We'll avoid those."

"Six says we've got to get permission to use an owl," McGee paraphrased, looking at the scroll before him.

"How are we supposed to get to Vance, then?" Abby asked.

"Gibbs said he's got that covered with McGonagall," Tony said with a wave. "Seven?"

"We are 'hereby forbidden' from discussing things with students other than the subjects we have volunteered to teach," McGee rattled off. "Well that's no problem for you three and Gibbs. Just speak whatever language you're teaching them."

"We will have to step up class work," Ziva stated. "My students are only able to speak in fragments, and very poorly, I might add."

"Tony, you and I can split the Spanish kids," Abby suggested. "One of us can teach honors and move faster."

"Done," Tony agreed.

"That's great," McGee said. "Now what about me and Ducky? Sooner or later _something's _going to happen that we'll have to talk with the kids about."

"Use metaphors," Tony suggested. "You're a writer, Timmy. You can do it!"

"Grab your wallets," Gibbs demanded, entering the room.

"What's going on, Gibbs?" Tony asked as he popped open his suitcase and dug out his wallet. He and his colleagues had stopped carrying their identification and money with them as neither were necessary inside of Hogwarts.

"Umbridge is going out to Hogsmeade for a few hours," Gibbs said as he stuffed his wallet into his pocket. "That gives us some time to run out to London and hit a few stores. We're going to be here the rest of the year, at least. We need to stock up."

"How are we getting there?" Abby asked as she threw herself onto the floor and began digging under her bed.

"Don't know yet," Gibbs said. He looked at his watch. "Be in Dumbledore's office in ten minutes. Take different routes. Abby, stick with Ziva. Ducky, with me."

Gibbs and Ducky left, then Tony, McGee a few minutes later. Abby and Ziva left with just five minutes to spare, ducking through every shortcut they knew to get to Dumbledore's office in time.

"Ah, Agent David, Miss Scuito," Dumbledore greeted. "Let's get down to business then, shall we?

"Minerva has agreed to keep an eye on Dolores whilst she is in Hogsmeade and will send word to me when Dolores is leaving, and from there I will get word to you," Dumbledore said.

"How could you possibly spread word so fast that we could be back here before Umbridge?" Ziva asked.

"Magic, Agent David," Dumbledore answered with a twinkle in his eye. "Agent Gibbs, Dr. Mallard, you'll be in the company of Alastor. Agents DiNozzo and McGee, Remus will be going with you. Agent David, Miss Scuito, Tonks is quite eager to see you."

"I thought Tonks might be busy with work," Gibbs said.

"The Auror department currently has their hands quite tied, Agent Gibbs," Dumbledore said in a very mellow voice. He stood and grabbed three ordinary feathers off his desk. He handed one to Gibbs, one to Tony, and the last to Ziva. "Portkeys," he said in explanation.

"Why do we always have to take a new form of magic transportation?" Tony asked. "Can't we just do the same thing twice? First the floo powder, then apparition, then the train, now feathers. What's next?"

The feathers turned blue and Tony very nearly dropped his.

"Grab on, quickly," Dumbledore suggested.

Ducky, McGee, and Abby grabbed onto their partner's feather and shortly after all six Muggles disappeared.

"Abby!" squealed Tonks as Abby and Ziva materialized before her. "You're alive, and free! I thought Umbridge might have chained you all up in the dungeons!"

Abby turned, smiled, and hugged Tonks. "No, not chained."

"Not yet, anyway," said Ziva.

"I heard chatter that she's given you lot a set of rules now," Tonks said unhappily.

"You heard right," Abby said with a pout. "I haven't had a curfew since high school!"

Tonks sighed. "Well, soon enough people will see through Fudge's little lies."

"Do you know something we do not, Tonks?" Ziva asked.

"I don't think so," Tonks said thoughtfully. "Anyway, we should get going. You've got to stock up for a whole four and a half months in a maximum of four hours!"

"And we're in London," Abby added. "Yikes! So many stores!"

Tonks lead the way out of the alley she and her companions had landed in and onto a busy London street.

"Oh, I could spend days here," Abby declared, looking at all the store fronts.

"Well you've got a couple of hours," said Tonks. "Let's go!"

"Where are we supposed to find summer clothes in February?" Ziva asked, pulling her jacket tighter. "We'll be here straight into June."

"There are more than a few crazies in London, Ziva," Tonks said brightly. "I'm sure we'll find somewhere, but I thought you might have different priorities, like make up or razors or – "

"Can't we get that in Hogsmeade?" Abby asked. "There are secret passages. We've used them before."

"Not with Umbridge marking your every move, though," Tonks pointed out. "Hogsmeade is a small enough town that if you've been in it, Umbridge will know."

"This looks promising," said Ziva, ducking into a super store. Abby and Tonks were quick on her heels. Ziva snatched a basket and quickly began weaving through aisles.

"Ziva, not so fast!" Abby begged.

"We can't get split up, Ziva," Tonks added.

"We have a _maximum_ of four hours," Ziva said as she threw some chapstick into her basket. "I absolutely refuse to run out of make up or wear sweaters in April because of Umbridge's paranoia."

"Fair point," Abby said, then picked up pace, grabbing everything she might possibly need.

"Start listing clothes stores in the area, Tonks," Ziva requested as she added shampoo and conditioner to her basket, which was becoming rather full.

"I don't really know any," Tonks admitted. "I'm not in London all that often, and when I am it's for work."

"Abby?" Ziva asked.

"I'm on it," Abby said. With one hand she grabbed on to Ziva's shoulder for guidance. With the other she pulled out her phone and became engrossed in it as she prowled the internet.

After another five minutes and check out, Ziva, Abby, and Tonks left the super store with several bags and power walked down the street to one of the stores Abby had located. They passed Lupin, Tony, and McGee, but pretended not to know any of them.

"Is it really a good idea for us all to be in such close proximity?" McGee asked Lupin once they were a good distance away from their friends.

"As long as we're not actually travelling _with_ them we should be fine, Tim," Lupin responded.

"Shoes," Tony said, looking into a window. "Mine are going to go out soon."

"You just bought those two months ago, Tony," McGee objected. "How often do you buy new shoes?"

"Every three months," Tony replied. "Is that abnormal?"

"Yes! You don't _need_ new shoes so oft– "

"We're on a time budget here, gentlemen," Lupin reminded. "Tony, let's go in, get your shoes, and get back out."

As the trio of men stepped into the store they were met with a display of running shoes.

"Did you bring your tennis shoes, McGoo?" Tony asked.

"No. Why?" McGee asked.

"You might want to think about getting a pair," Tony suggested annoyingly. "When it's warm enough, Boss will have us running."

"Damn straight, I'll have you running," Gibbs said lowly as he, Ducky, and Moody walked out of the store, Gibbs and Ducky each with at least one box.

"Looks like I had a good idea after all," Tony said smartly, then moved on to find his next pair of shoes.

"Don't let him get to you, Tim," Lupin advised, sitting down on a padded bench meant for trying on shoes.

"I've been dealing with Tony for five years, Remus," McGee answered, slightly irritated. "I know how to handle him."

"I could argue that you're not handling him, but yourself."

"Whatever works," McGee said, sitting beside Lupin to stuff his feet into a pair of running shoes.

"He reminds me a bit of Sirius," Lupin said quietly. "Before Azkaban."

"Your average narcissist?" McGee queried, tying his left shoe.

Lupin chuckled. "I can't deny either of them being narcissistic. They've both got a good heart, though."

"Tony's is wrapped in a couple layers of his ego."

Lupin again humored McGee with a low laugh.

"How was Sirius different?" McGee asked after a moment.

Lupin sighed. "He's always been reckless, and he's never listened much, but he's so much worse now," he said sadly. "The only one that can really control him anymore is Dumbledore. Harry can too, but I don't think he realizes it. If it weren't for them two, Sirius would certainly be gone."

"Well sooner or later everything will be fixed and Sirius will be back to normal," McGee assured

"No one's ever the same once they've been through Azkaban, Tim."

"Which one looks better, McGoo?" Tony asked, stomping over. "Right foot or left foot?"

McGee looked at Tony's feet. "Those shoes look exactly the same, Tony," he said unamusedly.

"These are not at all the same!" Tony retorted. "Look at the – "

"Left foot, Tony," Lupin stated confidently.

"Are you sure?" Tony asked. "The right one's got a bit of a longer toe and – "

"Left one," Lupin repeated.

Tony walked off again.

McGee looked over at Lupin with a furrowed brow. "How in the world did you see any differences in those shoes?"

"I didn't," said Lupin simply. "It's a trick I learned rooming with Sirius and James for seven years."

"James?" McGee asked. "James _Potter_? You roomed with James Potter?"

Lupin nodded. "I'm surprised you didn't know already."

"I just never put the pieces together," McGee said. He thought for a moment before opening his mouth again. "So this whole war's hit you pretty hard, huh?"

Lupin seemed to age fifteen years in a matter of seconds. "You have no idea, Tim."

"You ready to go, Probie?" Tony asked, striding into sight with a shoe box.

McGee pulled the tennis shoes off his feet and put his work shoes back on. "Yeah, ready."

"Seriously, _that_ color?" Tony said in disgust as he peered into McGee's box.

"Let's go, Tony," McGee prodded, then headed to check out.

* * *

><p>"Can you believe our luck?" Abby asked, running her hand over a rack of summer dresses. "Who would have thought there'd be a store that sold decent summer clothes all year round? Do you think we should get swim suits, Ziva?"<p>

"For what?" Ziva asked as she grabbed several tank tops in different colors.

"The lake!"

"Trust me when I tell you that you don't want to go in the lake unless you absolutely have to," Tonks interjected. "Abby, try this dress on! I bet it'd look great on you."

Abby frowned at the dress Tonks held. "It's not really my style, Tonks."

"Go on and try something new," Tonks encouraged.

Ziva looked over at the dress. "Unless you could find that dress in Hot Topic, Abby will not wear it," she said to Tonks.

"Hot Topic?" Tonks asked, scrunching her nose. "What's that?"

"Only the greatest store _ever_," Abby replied. "I'm going to find one right now." And she whipped her phone back out.

"Here, Abby. Flip-flops," Ziva said, throwing a black pair into Abby's empty basket.

"Thanks," Abby said distractedly. "I need to find a parasol."

"To keep out of the sun," Ziva said in response to Tonks's bewildered face.

"How can you not like the sun?" Tonks asked, aghast.

Ziva grabbed Abby's shoulders and steered her over to a small display of umbrellas and parasols.

"Tonks, I'm going to go try these on," Ziva informed.

"Alright," Tonks said somewhat nervously. "Don't take too long, though. I'm technically not supposed to let you out of my sight."

Ziva hurried off to the fitting room while Abby stuffed her phone back into her purse.

"Any luck?" Tonks asked.

"There aren't any close enough," Abby said moodily. "I guess I'll just order stuff online."

"Online?" Tonks asked.

"The internet," Abby said slowly. "I thought you had people like me pretty close to you."

"My dad's parents, but they're dead," Tonks replied.

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's alright. Happened a long time ago. I hardly remember them. Are you going to pick a parasol or what?"

Abby eyed her small selection, then snatched a black lace one with faint red trimming. "Perfect," she declared.

Ziva rejoined her companions. "I am all set."

"Me too!" Abby exclaimed.

"That's all you need from here?" Tonks asked, peering into Abby's basket, which contained only four items.

"All I need from _here_ and more," Abby replied. "I probably won't wear the flip flops."

"Alright, then. Let's keep pushing on!"

The trio headed to check out, then back onto the busy London street.

"Ooooh!" Abby cooed at a random window. "Puppies!"

"Abby!" Ziva snapped.

"Oh, come on," Abby whined. "Ten minutes!"

"Ten minutes may be all we have left!"

A silver blur flashed before the trio's eyes, then dissipated into the air.

"We've got no minutes left," Tonks said. "Come on, hurry!"

"What was that?" Ziva asked as she and Abby followed Tonks down an alley.

"Dumbledore's signal that Umbridge is headed back to Hogwarts. Grab my arm," Tonks instructed.

Ziva and Abby each grabbed an arm, then vanished.

"Hey, this place looks familiar," Abby said happily, standing outside Grimmauld Place.

"Come on, inside!" Tonks urged.

"She left Hogsmeade ten minutes ago," Sirius's voice announced as his guests entered the kitchen.

"What?" Tonks snapped. "And we were _just_ signaled?" She quickly flicked her wand and the bags Abby and Ziva carried shrank to such a size they were able to stuffed into pockets. "What's been going on?"

"I'll explain in a minute! Ziva, Abby, take some Floo. Dumbledore's office. Go!"

Abby went first, quickly grabbing some Floo powder, throwing it into the fire, and disappearing in a burst of green flame. Ziva hurriedly followed.

"Agent David, you've been in the library all day," Dumbledore said in form of greeting.

"Right," Ziva said, then dashed out the door.

"Miss Scuito, you and Agent McGee have spent the last hour and a half teaching Professor Burbage about computers."

"Is McGee already with Charity?" Abby asked.

"He is," Dumbledore responded.

"Thanks, Professor!" Abby said cheerfully, then bounded away.

Just as the door to Dumbledore's office shut behind Abby, Ducky, followed by Gibbs tumbled out of the headmaster's grate.

"That was a rather abrupt call," Ducky commented, taking off his glasses and wiping them on the inside of his sweater.

"My apologies," said Dumbledore. "I hope Alastor wasn't too rough."

"He scared the hell out of some four year old when his hat fell off," Gibbs said.

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Doctor Mallard, Madame Pomfrey is waiting for you in the hospital wing. Should anyone ask, you've been there since the end of breakfast."

Ducky tipped his hat to Dumbledore and left.

Gibbs stood in front of Dumbledore's desk awaiting an alibi.

"I think the desk in your classroom could use a coat or two of varnish, Agent Gibbs," Dumbledore said.

"That wouldn't have taken me two hours to do, Professor," Gibbs objected.

"I know that," Dumbledore said, then smiled, "but Dolores does not."

"Your call," Gibbs said with a shrug, then headed out.

Gibbs had changed, gotten to his classroom, and set down a tarp before he heard the door open and close. He didn't bother turning around. "Out in Hogsmeade for only two hours. Must not be much to do there," he said as he popped open a can of wood stain.

"Two hours too long, considering my activities," McGonagall said in reply. "Did you lot get along alright?"

"Wouldn't know. We've all been split our separate ways all day," Gibbs said casually.

"She's holed up in her office, Jethro. She can't hear us."

Gibbs set down his can of stain, made his way over to the book shelf, and pulled it open quickly. The secret passageway was empty. He shut the book case and returned to his desk. "Ducky and I'll be alright. Dunno about the others."

"Well, if it becomes absolutely necessary – " McGonagall began.

"No," Gibbs said flatly. "That was it. If we need anything else we'll just make due. I am _not_ going out shopping with Mad-Eye again."

"Leon's written back," McGonagall announced, ignoring the latter half of Gibbs's reply.

"What's he got to say?" Gibbs asked as he began carefully staining his desk.

"Apparently, he'll be in the vicinity in four weeks. He's meeting with his equivalent in the UK."

"A legitimate reason. That makes things a bit easier. Now we've just got to figure out how the hell we're going to be able to see him to explain anything," Gibbs said coolly, causing McGonagall to sigh and rub her temples.

* * *

><p>"It's just like chess, Ziva," whispered Flitwick, sat at a table in the library with his old patrol partner. "You have to think three moves ahead!"<p>

"I am trying, Filius, but it is difficult to predict the moves of someone that is completely insane!" Ziva snapped quietly.

"Dolores isn't insane, Ziva, she's _methodical_. And that means - ?"

"Typically, it means patterns, but the only patterns I see in her behavior are a lack of mercy and an obsession with control derived from quite the impressive Napoleon complex!"

"That's just it! Lack of mercy and obsession with control," Flitwick stated. "Now plan accordingly. She does _not_ look ahead. She merely _reacts_ to the plays of others – a poor chess player indeed!"

"Okay," Ziva said matter-of-factly, collecting herself, "let's pretend, for a moment, that you are Umbridge."

"I think I'll need to go shower afterwards, but alright," Flitwick conceded.

"If you were to find out that we were breaking Muggle Decree – " Ziva glanced down at the long scroll of rules, " – Seventeen, how would you react?"

"_Hem, hem! _Muggle Decree Seventeen states that under no circumstances shall a Muggle enter the Forbidden Forest," Flitwick said, pitching his voice even higher than his usual. "To counteract such a vile disobedience, I might instate a rule forbidding Muggles to even step foot outside the actual castle."

Ziva made a note on her scroll, then examined her quill closely. "Would you be willing to lend me another quill, Filius? This one is becoming rather challenging."

"Why don't you just pick a couple of quills you like from that order sheet I gave you? I'll send the order out and give you the quills once they come in."

"Funny you mention that order form," Ziva said, putting the feathery end of the quill under her chin. "It vanished from my desk."

"Is that so?" Flitwick asked interestedly.

"It is," Ziva answered. "The copy of the Ministry of Magic's Code I had has also managed to disappear."

"Very curious," Flitwick said, though he sounded far from surprised.

"Excuse me, Agent David?" said an unsure voice.

"Neville!" Ziva said, turning towards the boy with a smile.

"I was wondering if you'd check over my homework before I turned it in for a grade," Neville said shyly.

"Of course," Ziva immediately replied. "So you've decided to stick with French after all?" she asked as she unfurled Neville's homework and began looking it over.

"Luna's said she'll help me with the assignments," Neville answered. "I know she's pretty spacey, but she's really patient and knows how to explain stuff."

"I do not disagree with you," said Ziva. She rolled Neville's assignment back up. "A job well done, Mr. Longbottom. I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday."

Neville flashed a smile, then left.

"You'd better be careful, Ziva," Flitwick cautioned, though with a smile. "If you steal Pomona's favorite student, she may very well set the Venomous Tentacula on you!"

Ziva chuckled. "Alright, how do you think she'd react if Eighteen were broken?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

"OH MY GOODNESS! NO MORE HIATUS!" Well... sorry to disappoint, I am not yet to the point where I will be able to update this story regularly. I am simply in a fabulous, fabulous mood. Why, you might ask? Well, let's just say that 1.2 billion others understand my joy. High five for those that get it! Don't get it? Then... celebrate the update!

I so greatly miss reading reviews for this story. Leave one!


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